Out of Our Hands
by Wilting Rose 08
Summary: What would you do if you had to marry someone you had never met? Someone you didn't even like? Someone you were supposed to hate? Well, unfortunately, James and Sirius don't have the choice...Eventual JPSB slash, AU
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine, all J.K. Rowling's.

Warning: This is an AU story, however much I may wish otherwise. There will be slash. As I came up with names, I realized it could be quite a lot of slash. There will definitely be JP/SB slash, no matter what else will occur.

Author Note: I love these kind of stories, where James and Sirius have never met before for whatever reason. However, it seems like those are rarely finished, at least the ones I can find. This one will be finished. It might take a while. Scratch that, it will definitely take a while, but it will be finished! With that said, I present to you…

**Out of Our Hands**

"And you think this will stop the spread of the Dark…why?" the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation asked. "It seems like a sure-fire way to have all the pureblood families band together to overrule us. Somehow, I don't think that's the goal."

"I guess the esteemed Minister is just trying to find a way to keep all of them from going to You-Know-Who," the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement sighed.

They, along with the other heads of the departments, were currently seated in a meeting room, located off the Atrium on the first floor. They were waiting for the Minister to arrive so he could make his 'brilliant plan' official.

"Oh good, you're all here!" the Minister said, as he came in through the far door that connected the room with his office. "Now, what do you all think of my plan to get the Light purebloods and the Dark purebloods to cooperate?"

"I think you're going to get the wrong kind of cooperation," the head of the Department for International Magical Cooperation said.

"How do you figure?"

"If you pair their kids up with someone they haven't even _met_, they'll be united, all right - united in throwing over the government!" she prophesized darkly.

"Now, now, Wanda. That's ridiculous. Why would they do that?"

"Because you are forcing their firstborns to pair up with someone from an enemy family. These children have never even met, and something tells me their parents want to keep it that way. Why else would they choose to send some to Hogwarts, while others are sent to Durmstrang? It's certainly not to become closer!"

"Exactly! They must put all of that behind them! It could wind up destroying us all if they don't learn to get along! It will only be between the 12 oldest families, and only the main branches at that. That should be enough to get the rest of them to straighten up and act like civilized adults."

"Yes, as they demonstrate their magical learning by throwing curses at us. I don't know about you, but I'm kinda fond of living," the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports muttered.

"Now Ludo, why would you think that would happen?" the Minister questioned. Everyone else in the room just looked at the man who was supposed to be the leader in shock. "Now, let's get down to pairing them up. Let's see, the families to choose from include Malfoy, Potter, Black, Snape, Weasley, Longbottom, Prewett, Bones…"

Author Note: Well, how did you like the prologue? I promise, the actual chapters will be a LOT longer. I hate short chapters. This just fit here, and wouldn't have fit as well if I would have made it longer. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!

P.S. This story now has a beta reader! Thanks so much to **Hilary**! As such, it's being reposted.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own next to nothing. The vast majority is owned by JKR.

Author's Note: Wow, I'm impressed by all the reviews. Actually, I didn't expect that many for something that's at the very most a fourth of my usual chapter length. I've got some that are a lot longer, which these chapters will be once everyone is at Hogwarts. Until then, I doubt if they're more than four or five pages in Word, tops. Anyway, here it is!

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 2

------Durmstrang------

Breakfast was just ending when the post owls swooped into the Great Hall at Durmstrang. Everyone looked up, hoping to see something from home. The seven owls bearing the Ministry's mark stood out against the others as they swooped down, landing in front of Sirius Black, Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, Dorcas Meadowes, Alice Rosier, Walden McNair, and Headmaster Dolohov. Sirius opened his letter, fearing the worst. What he found was definitely something he didn't expect.

"Dear Mr. Black,

"Effective immediately, you are engaged to a member of another of the twelve oldest wizarding families. As such, you will be transferred from Durmstrang School of Sorcery to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, in accordance with the latest initiative from the Ministry to stop the rise of the Dark Arts (as well as to unite the pureblood families), you will meet your fiancé, who has already been determined based on personality tests, as well as family history. Please be ready to leave Durmstrang by 10:00 a.m.; you will immediately be taken to Hogwarts.

"Sincerely Yours,

"Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic"

Sirius's mouth fell open in shock. As he looked around the room, he noticed that everyone else who had gotten a letter was having approximately the same reaction, including Headmaster Dolohov.

"What do you think?" Sirius whispered to Alice and Dorcas, who he was sitting by. The three of them had become friends a few years ago during a detention, of all places. They were about the only two people in all of Durmstrang who liked him and who he liked.

"This can't be legal," Dorcas hissed immediately. "It just _can't _be!"

"I bet it is," Alice said, a look of disgust on her face. "Remember that new law that says the Ministry can do everything in their power to stop the rise of the Dark Arts?"

"Oh yeah," Dorcas replied. She was about to say more, when the Headmaster interrupted.

"Well, all of you that got the letter, you know what you have to do. You are obviously excused from classes for today, although I expect you to be up to date when we get you back here after this law is seen for what it really is. To those six, dismissed!" the Headmaster said, his face clearly saying what he didn't: he doubted that the law would last the amount of time it would take the students to get to Hogwarts. The six who had received letters reluctantly rose and walked out of the room towards the dormitories.

------Hogwarts------

Breakfast was just starting when the post owls arrived. People immediately noticed the Ministry insignia that seven of the owls bore. The first six flew in a cluster, as if they had been sent out at exactly the same time, while the seventh owl was just a little behind, as if he had got a different note to deliver. The first six landed in front of James Potter, Arthur Weasley, Frank Longbottom, Molly Prewett, Amelia Bones, and Elizabeth Diggory. The seventh landed in front of the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. James, after glancing at his best friend, Remus Lupin, opened his letter. He was nowhere near prepared for what he was about to read.

"Dear Mr. Potter,

"Effective immediately, you are engaged to a member of another of the twelve oldest wizarding families. As such, your fiancé will be arriving from Durmstrang at roughly 8:00 pm. This is in accordance with the latest law passed to stop the rise of the Dark Arts and to unite the pureblood families. Your fiancé has been pre-determined for you based on personality tests, as well as on family history. Please be ready to meet your fiancé at Hogsmeade Station at any time from 8:00 onwards this evening.

"Sincerely Yours,

"Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic"

"I can't believe they did this!" Molly Prewett burst out. She and Arthur Weasley had been dating for a while now, and everyone thought they would get married when they left Hogwarts, but now it appeared that that wouldn't happen. Her younger brother, Fabian, picked up the letter and skimmed through it.

"Don't worry, Molly," he consoled, handing the letter to his twin, Gideon. "The Malfoys and Blacks are some of the oldest families among us, and they won't like this any more than we do. The Ministry won't want them breathing down their necks, and it's a well-known fact that they don't deny the rich families anything. This law will be repealed soon."

"Well, students, it seems that for a brief time at least, we will be having six students join us from Durmstrang," Professor Dumbledore said, rising from his seat at the head table. "Will those of you who received a letter from the Ministry please meet me in my office as soon as breakfast is over? Thank you." He sat down and began to eat. Most of the rest of the students followed suit, although certain - six in particular - seemed to have lost their appetite.

"Oh, God, I just thought of something," James said suddenly, making Remus jump.

"What?" asked Remus, quite proud of himself for not spitting his mouthful of pumpkin juice everywhere.

"There are only involving the 12 oldest families in this, right?" James questioned. When Remus shrugged, he rolled his eyes and continued. "All right, we've got the Prewetts, the Longbottoms, the Weasleys, the Diggorys, the Bones, and the Potters, oldest from each family. That means we'll be stuck with the oldest of the Malfoy, Black, McNair, Rosier, Snape, and Meadowes families. Unless I'm making a mistake concerning the history of the Wizarding families that Grandma so kindly shoved down my throat, four of them are boys, which would bring the total up to seven boys and five girls."

"And your problem would be...? You're not exactly straight," Remus pointed out. James just glared.

"It's the principle of the thing!" James protested. Remus rolled his eyes.

"I've conducted a survey, and come to the conclusion that people only say that when they have no logical argument."

"Whatever," said James, trying to hide a grin, which, of course, wasn't at all hidden from his best friend. "I've gotta go. Breakfast is apparently over." He stood up as the plates cleared. Remus simply sighed, and left for his first class.

James arrived at the gargoyle first, probably due to the fact that he was the only one of those called who knew for sure where Dumbledore's office was.

"Ah, I'm glad you're already here," Dumbledore said, approaching with the other five. "Cockroach Cluster," he said to the gargoyle, which moved out of the way at once. They quickly climbed the staircase, and took seats in Dumbledore's office.

"Lemon drop?" he offered, eyes twinkling madly. James was the only one who accepted, as the others were more than slightly put off by the odd appearance of the office.

"Now, to business," he said, turning gravely serious. "So as not to disturb the rest of your houses, we're going to give each…set...their own room. Couple doesn't seem like the right word - at least, not yet. You will be attending the same classes if you're in the same year, and if not, the transfer student will be escorted about by another member of this group. Do any of you have any questions?"

"I do," James said, after a moment of silence. "Everyone was shocked by this, so obviously no one knew. Where did they get the personality analysis?"

"I'm sorry to have to say 'from me'. A month ago, right before school started, the Ministry asked for some things along those lines, although they were for more students than just you six. Are there any other questions? No? Well, then, please follow me, and I'll show you to your new rooms; after that, you can get your things from your old dormitory." With that, he stood up, and all of the students followed him down the stairs. They walked for quite a while, until they came to a corridor that James knew held most of the teachers' quarters. There were two empty rooms in this corridor, and three more in the next.

"All right, two of you will be staying here. Who would care to?" Dumbledore asked. Molly Prewett and Elizabeth Diggory raised their hands. Both were seventh years. Dumbledore nodded, and the two girls went into their respective rooms. The others continued to the next corridor. "There are three empty rooms here. Who would like to take them?" James didn't want one of them. If his guess was correct, the last room was the room that also contained a secret passage to Hogsmeade, one that he and Remus had discovered and no one else knew about. As such, he let the other three (Amelia Bones, Arthur Weasley, and Frank Longbottom) take those rooms.

"Very well, James, please follow me," said Dumbledore. They walked to some rooms that were located near the Gryffindor Tower. James had been right: it was the room with the secret passage. "You may move your things out of Gryffindor Tower and into this room. Please be in the Entrance Hall at 7:00, so you can leave with the others to go to Hogsmeade Station." James nodded, and started looking around his new rooms. It was easy to tell that no one had actually lived in them for some time, even if the house elves had cleaned the rooms up. James sighed. He really didn't want to have to live, and, in all likelihood, get _married_, to someone he had never met. Everyone kept saying that the law would get overturned, but James somehow doubted it. It just didn't seem like the kind of thing that the Minister would be willing to be swayed on, especially when you considered how much the heads of the various departments had probably fought against it. He just wondered who he would be stuck with, and how bad they'd be.

Author's Note: As I said at the beginning of the story, thanks for all the reviews, and I am trying to make the chapters longer! I'm not sure if I'll update later this week, but if I don't, it might take a little longer, since we're going on vacation, and I won't have a computer. I won't even get to sleep late. sob. Anyway, thanks for reading, now review!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: You think this is mine? That's funny... It's all JKR's. I'm just an admirer.

Author's Note: I'ms BAAaack! hehe. Vacation was wonderful, I got this chapter finished, the next chapter at least started, and a tentative version of Christmas for this story. I never can write a story in the order it's supposed to go. If I get an idea for something, I just have to write it, no matter when it comes. Anyway, here it is...

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 3

-----Durmstrang-----

"Are you about ready?" asked Sirius as he spoke to Alice and Dorcas through their mirrors. (You could use them like walkie-talkies, only you could see the person's face, and if they weren't standing directly in front of the mirror, you could see the room they were in.)

"I am," Alice replied, coming into view. "Dory is still looking for about half of her socks. I don't know how she knows she lost them, considering she hasn't seen them since the beginning of the year."

"I found them!" Dorcas exclaimed. Sirius could see her in brief flashes, doing an odd happy dance around the room as she waved the missing socks through the air. Sirius couldn't help but snicker. "We'll meet you down by the front doors!"

The fourth and top floor of Durmstrang was all bedrooms. There weren't nearly as many students at Durmstrang as there were at Hogwarts, so there were only two students to a room, but roommates had to be in the same class. Sirius was unlucky enough to share a room with Snape. He knew his parents had a lot to do with his living arrangement. Most rich purebloods didn't want their children mingling with purebloods that they considered to be beneath them. That was how the six who were leaving had all shared rooms. Alice and Dorcas, and Malfoy and McNair had been lucky; at least they _liked _the person they shared their room with. Sirius and Snape _hated_ each other. Not just a mild dislike - they absolutely _loathed _each other. Of course, it didn't help that Snape hung out with Malfoy and McNair, who were some of the most popular kids in Durmstrang, and Sirius hung out with Alice and Dorcas, who were…not. Of course, none of them really minded, except when the other students (Snape, Malfoy, and McNair) tried to pick fights and they (Sirius, Alice, and Dorcas) got blamed for it. Snape's gang had _tried_ to prank them, but Sirius was so good at thinking up pranks, and the three of them so good at getting them to work, that the others had quickly quit that, especially after Malfoy had woken up one morning covered in pink and purple polka dots.

Sirius started dragging his trunk downstairs. He got it about half way out the door before he changed his mind, cast a feather-light charm on it, and shrank it. He then stuck it in the pocket of his cloak and continued on his way. He hadn't been this happy in a long time. In fact, if he really thought about it, he hadn't been this happy since he had made friends with Alice and Dory, and had realized that not everyone was a pureblood fanatic like his parents (not to mention almost every other person inside Durmstrang). He finally made it down the stairs and saw everyone else already standing there: the other five that were transferring, as well as one of the teachers from Durmstrang who would be playing chaperone, and an older witch whom Sirius had never seen before (and who he assumed was the chaperone from Hogwarts).

"Finally," said Professor Dolohov. Sirius hadn't noticed him standing off in the corner. "Students, this is Professor McGonagall. She is the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts, and will be escorting you there, along with our own Professor Jenkins. Are you all ready? Good. You may leave now." Professor Jenkins started towards the door, and everyone else followed.

"We will be taking a portkey to Kings Cross Station, where we will board a train that will take us to Hogwarts," Professor Jenkins said, his face showing exactly what he thought of the Muggle technology that Hogwarts used. Everyone grabbed the rubber tire that he held out. He quickly counted "3...2...1...", and as he said "one", the portkey activated. They arrived at Kings Cross Station a few seconds later, landing on a deserted platform that had a scarlet engine on the track.

"Welcome to Platform 9 and three quarters," Professor McGonagall said. "You might get a little hot in those cloaks," she continued, eyeing the outerwear of the people from Durmstrang. "While it can get cold where we're going, it's nowhere near that cold in the first week of October." With that, she boarded the train, which was probably the shortest one Sirius had ever seen, consisting of the engine and one car. McGonagall must have caught him staring at it, because she explained. "It's usually much longer than that, but it takes less magic to run if it's shorter, and as there are only eight people traveling on it besides the driver, it should work perfectly. It is, however, still divided into compartments, but I believe we could split up four and four - what do you think, Professor Jenkins?"

"Sounds fine," Jenkins said, looking like he was thinking something along the lines of 'how dare _she_ address _me_?'

"Good," replied McGonagall, looking as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. Sirius got the distinct impression that this witch didn't miss much, and if you did something she didn't like, you were in _big_ trouble. She climbed aboard the train, and the rest followed, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

Sirius, Alice, and Dory glanced at each other, then nodded. They all knew without saying that they would much rather sit with Professor McGonagall. Jensen didn't really like them...at all, in fact. While he wasn't really a big name pureblood, he was very power-hungry - and good at worming himself closer to people with power. He simply couldn't understand how those three could be born with what, in his eyes, was everything, and not care about it, much less want it.

The three quickly climbed on the train, and could immediately distinguish McGonagall's compartment from Jensen's. They entered and sat down; they left the station about five minutes after that, and it was another thirty before anyone broke the silence.

"So, are you excited about going to Hogwarts?" McGonagall asked. She was used to having noise, and the quiet was getting to be unbearable. With Remus Lupin and James Potter around, there was rarely a dull moment.

"Well, kinda," Alice answered

"Yeah, under almost any other set of circumstances, I'd be thrilled," Dory added.

"It's just something about being told you have to marry someone you've never met because the Ministry - or at least the Minister - is idiotic," Sirius added.

"I must say that makes sense," McGonagall admitted. "If it helps, none of the students at Hogwarts were faring any better, at least when I left. I guess the two of you," she gestured towards Alice and Dory, "will be with either Frank Longbottom or Arthur Weasley."

"Oh! That wouldn't be too bad," Alice said. "I've met both of them, and they're pretty nice."

"Who else is there?" Dory asked.

"Molly Prewett, Elizabeth Diggory, Amelia Bones, and James Potter," McGonagall said. Alice, who was sitting next to Sirius, leaned over and started whispering madly to Dory, who listened interestedly.

"So James Potter's gay?" Dory asked. Of all people, she hadn't really expected him, with his reputation, to be gay. As far as she had heard from one of her cousin's friends (who went to Hogwarts), he was a playboy.

"I don't really think _gay_ is the quite right word," McGonagall said thoughtfully. "However, he and his best friend have been caught snogging by teachers a lot more than either of them has been with a girl." After that, no one seemed to know what to say, so the compartment fell back into silence.

-----Hogwarts-----

"Remus!" yelled James from the doors of the Great Hall at lunch. He had spent the morning rounding up all of his scattered things from his dorm room and the common room and moving it into his new rooms. He was, quite frankly, sick of all of it.

"James!" Remus yelled back, somewhat mockingly. He had spent the entire morning in class, and had actually _learned_ something, even if the classes had been pretty boring without James.

"We've got permission to go to Hogsmeade if you want to come," James said as he approached where Remus was sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"Sure, why not. All I've got this afternoon is Divination. She'll never notice if I'm not there," Remus shrugged. They quickly exited the Great Hall, not wanting to wait for the plates to actually fill, and headed down to the kitchens. After grabbing some food, they left the castle for Hogsmeade.

"You'll never guess which room I got..." remarked James as they walked down the lane.

"You got the room with the passage to Hogsmeade? How lucky is that!" Remus exclaimed.

"Yeah, now watch me get a roommate who loves rules," James said glumly. "Did you know that's part of the reason we got to go to Hogsmeade today?"

"Because your new roommate loves rules?" Remus asked, confused.

"No, because new roommates are coming. Dumbledore let all of us go, and we could invite anyone we wanted to. I think Frank was going to invite the entire sixth year until Molly stopped him." James had started kicking a stone down the road. Remus had only seen him do that once before, and that was when he had to tell his parents just what, exactly, he had done to get a month's worth of detentions. That had not been a pretty sight.

"Let's go to Zonko's," James suggested. He clearly didn't want to think about it any more than he had to.

Remus let James drag him from place to place all day. They didn't really stop until they sat down for supper at the Three Broomsticks at seven.

"I'm gonna have to leave soon, you know," Remus said as they ate. It was the first time since they had actually entered the town of Hogsmeade that either of them had even hinted at what was coming.

"Yeah, I know," James sighed. They ate the rest of the meal in silence.

"Well, see you later," Remus said, standing up. "Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow - think you'll be able to make it?"

"Yeah, probably," James said, somewhat distracted. Remus just shook his head and left. James sat there in silence for a little longer before someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"James? It's almost eight. We've got to go," Elizabeth said quietly.

"Right," he sighed. He really wanted to run far, far away, until he was too tired to move, and then get at least another five miles away, just for good measure, but he stood and walked with Beth to Hogsmeade Station. 'Just my luck,' he thought as he arrived. 'The train's on time.'

Authors Note: Well, how did you like it? Be sure to tell me! Thanks to all of you who reviewed, I really appreciate it. Now, I need your help. Should I continue writing events from each point of view? The next chapter will be like that, anyway, but what about the one after that? I need your opinion! Don't forget to review!


	4. Chapter 4

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 4

-----Sirius's Point of View-----

The train pulled into the station. Sirius, who had un-shrunk his trunks about halfway through the trip, stood up to pull them off the luggage shelf.

"Just leave it," McGonagall said, standing as well. "The house elves will get it. Just follow me." The three friends glanced at each other, but followed their new professor off the train. The four from the other compartment followed.

"Ah, Professor," they heard someone exclaim as they climbed down. "I had wondered where you had chosen to hide."

"Very funny, Mr. Potter," McGonagall retorted. Sirius could practically _hear_ her roll her eyes. 'So that's the one I'll be with,' he thought sullenly. He knew that his headmaster would have said anything that he thought was even barely true. His old headmaster, however, didn't know that Sirius was pretty sure he was gay. He'd only told Alice and Dory. Really, though, who else was he going to tell?

"Are you coming or not?" McGonagall asked over her shoulder, effectively breaking Sirius, and, it seemed, Alice, out of their respective musings. Alice was in front and froze when she had seen the people waiting for them. Sirius and Dory glanced at each other, and gently pushed her forward. She finally regained control of herself and moved off the train. The six students from Durmstrang broke into two groups, the same two groups they had on the train. Professor Jenkins hovered in between the two, not looking at all sure what to do.

"Let's head up to Hogwarts," McGonagall said. "Six to a carriage. Professor Jenkins, come with me." The two professors led the way to three carriages that were waiting. "Hmm," McGonagall said, looking at everyone standing there. Sirius glanced at Alice and Dory. He did _not_ want to be with three people who probably hated his guts without at least one of them with him; the two of them felt the same way, and McGonagall seemed to sense this. She half-smiled at them, which seemed to amaze her own students. "All right, you three, and you three," she said, motioning to Sirius, Alice, Dory, a medium-height girl with long blonde hair and green eyes, a tallish boy with glasses, hazel eyes, and messy black hair, and a tall, lanky boy with red hair and blue eyes. Malfoy, Snape, MacNair, a short girl with blue eyes and red hair, a medium height boy with brown hair and brown eyes, and a girl with a square jaw, dark auburn hair, and blue eyes were gestured towards the other carriage. They climbed into the appropriate carriage and started off in uncomfortable silence.

"So, you would be?" Sirius asked after a few moments of the tense silence.

"Elizabeth Diggory," the blonde smiled. "But please call me Beth."

"Arthur Weasley," the red head replied, glaring at them as if daring them to make fun of his last name.

"James Potter," the black haired boy responded, although not without a prod from Beth.

"Well, I'm Alice Rosier," Alice said, and, sensing the reluctance of both Sirius and Dory to say anything, she continued. "This is Dorcas Meadowes and Sirius Black."

"Great to meet you," Beth smiled. "I hope you like it here. It's really fun, although never quiet." She seemed to be glaring at James when she said this. James must have understood the look, because he smiled innocently. It was a smile that made Sirius go weak in the knees - so much so that he probably would have fallen over if he had been standing instead of sitting.

"'Course it's fun, and why on earth do you want it quiet?" James said, amazed that someone could want such a horrible thing. It was the first thing he had said willingly since he had laid eyes on the transfer students.

They soon arrived at the castle, where Professor Dumbledore met them. The first carriage (the one with Sirius, Alice, Dory, James, Beth, and Arthur) arrived with friendly chatter between the teens. The second arrived in stony silence.

"Well, I see you all made it. Is anyone hungry? It is rather late. No? All right, then, if you'll follow me." With that, Dumbledore retreated back into the castle, and the large group followed.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Jenkins called out. "I really should be going. I've got classes I have to prepare for tomorrow."

"If you insist on leaving your students for what is obviously a lie, as no headmaster -especially not Headmaster Dolohov - would let their teachers be so far behind, very well," Dumbledore sighed. "It's not my place to stand in the way. You may go. Now, where were we?" He continued up the stairs, pretending not to notice the look of horror on Jenkins' face at the thought of having to take the train the _entire_ way back to London.

Eventually, the group came to a stone gargoyle. "Cockroach Cluster," Dumbledore said, and the statue jumped out of the way. They walked up the revolving staircase, coming out at what had to be the office door. They went inside, and Sirius couldn't help but be amazed at all the silvery instruments. In fact, all the students (except maybe James) were amazed, although it was harder to tell on some.

"Well, I'm sure you're tired, so I'll give you the basics concerning your situation tonight, and we can go over the details tomorrow after supper, as I'm sure you will want to visit Hogsmeade. In accordance with the new law, each couple is required to spend as much time together as possible, in the hopes that you will grow closer. As such, you will be sharing rooms and attending the same classes, unless, of course, you happen to be in different years. I don't, however, think that will be _too_ much of a problem, except in one case. There, the transfer student can accompany anyone out of their year. If you fight excessively, you will be given detentions together. If one of you attacks the other, they will be given as many detentions as I feel fit the crime with Mr. Filch, who will be allowed to use almost anything he can think of." All the Hogwarts students visibly flinched at that.

-----James's Point of View-----

The train pulled into the station almost as soon as the Hogwarts students had reached it. It sat completely still for a moment, and then, suddenly, the door opened, revealing Professor McGonagall. James just couldn't resist.

"Ah, Professor, I wondered where you had chosen to hide," James called, grinning.

"Very funny, Mr. Potter," McGonagall replied. She couldn't help but roll her eyes. James barely heard Beth reprimanding him, saying that he was giving the newcomers a bad impression of Hogwarts. James could honestly say he didn't care much.

"Are you coming or not?" McGonagall asked back (presumably) to the people behind her in the train. She stepped down, and a girl with a round face, light brown hair, and blue eyes stepped out, followed by a girl with pale blonde hair and green eyes. They were followed by four boys and someone who James assumed was the Professor from Durmstrang, so James didn't pay as much attention to him as he did to the others. The first boy had long black hair and grey eyes. The second had black hair as well, but he was about two inches taller and had piercing black eyes. The third had platinum blonde hair, and pale blue eyes that greatly resembled chips of ice. The fourth was shorter than any of those who had come out of the train before him. He had scraggly brown hair and eyes that were such a dark blue they were almost black.

"Let's head up to Hogwarts," McGonagall said as everyone finally stood on the platform. "Six to a carriage. Professor Jenkins, come with me." They led the way to the three carriages. "Hmm," McGonagall said, glancing around. She smiled at the two girls and the black haired boy standing with them, which shocked James. He had _never _seen her smile. "All right, you three, and you three," she continued, motioning to the three she had smiled at and Beth, Arthur, and James. She motioned the other six towards the other carriage.

"So, you would be?" the black haired boy asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"Elizabeth Diggory," Beth smiled. "But please call me Beth."

"Arthur Weasley," Arthur said, somewhat defiantly. James didn't blame him. He was teased about his last name anyway, the _last_ thing he needed was this lot making fun of him for it.

"James Potter," James contributed, rubbing the spot where Beth had elbowed him in the ribs.

"Well, I'm Alice Rosier," the blonde said. "This is Dorcas Meadowes and Sirius Black."

"Great to meet you," Beth smiled. "I hope you like it here. It's really fun, although never quiet." She glared at James, who smiled innocently.

"'Course it's fun, and why on earth would you want it quiet?" James asked, figuring it was time he said something without being elbowed beforehand.

They quickly arrived at the castle steps, where Dumbledore was waiting.

"Well, I see you all made it. Is anyone hungry? It is rather late. No? All right, then, if you'll follow me." Dumbledore turned back into the castle.

"Professor Dumbledore!" the professor from Durmstrang, Jenkins, called out. "I really should be going. I've got classes I have to prepare for tomorrow."

"If you insist on leaving your students for what is obviously a lie, as no headmaster -especially not Headmaster Dolohov - would let their teachers be so far behind, very well." Dumbledore sounded more than just a little peeved. "It's not my place to stand in the way. You may go. Now, where were we?" He turned again, and didn't stop until they reached the gargoyle, where he muttered "Cockroach Cluster," making it jump out of the way. That was the only thing anyone said until everyone had been seated inside his office.

"Well, I'm sure you're tired, so I'll give you the basics concerning your situation tonight, and we can go over the details tomorrow after supper, as I'm sure you will want to visit Hogsmeade. In accordance with the new law, each couple is required to spend as much time together as possible, in the hopes that you will grow closer. As such, you will be sharing rooms and attending the same classes, unless, of course, you happen to be in different years. I don't, however, think that will be _too_ much of a problem, except in one case. There, the transfer student can accompany anyone out of their year. If you fight excessively, you will be given detentions together. If one of you attacks the other, they will be given as many detentions as I feel fit the crime with Mr. Filch, who will be allowed to use almost anything he can think of." James hadn't really been listening until the last part, which made him wince. He did _not_ want to be strung up by his toes in the dungeon.

"Now, concerning the identities of the pairs. As I call your names, you may go to your rooms, as it's after curfew. Lucius Malfoy, Molly Prewett." Both students looked at each other in horror. James now understood what the letter had meant by 'family history.' The Prewetts and the Malfoys had hated each other for longer than anyone alive could remember. Both stood and walked out of the room, trying not to glare at each other.

"Alice Rosier, Frank Longbottom." Both of them looked somewhat happier. James got the impression that they knew each other from somewhere else. They walked out of the room.

"Severus Snape, Elizabeth Diggory." They weren't as hostile as Molly and Malfoy had been, but they weren't anywhere near friends.

"Walden MacNair, Amelia Bones." Amelia tried to smile, but after one look at the expression on MacNair's face decided against it.

"Dorcas Meadowes, Arthur Weasley." They stood and actually smiled at each other. James had expected that, after the way they had gotten along in the carriage. That meant, however, that he was with…

"Sirius Black, James Potter."

"Well, come on," James said, trying to smile. Sirius looked about as happy. Both were just glad they had gotten someone they could semi-stand. They quickly exited the office, and walked down the revolving staircase, which was revolving downward instead of upward. James had never seen it do that, as many times as he had been in the Headmaster's office.

"Do you mind if we do something before heading to bed?" James asked as they rounded the last corner to their rooms.

"Like what?" Sirius asked skeptically.

"Like going to see two of my friends. I guarantee you they're waiting up."

"Isn't it after curfew?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. Do you really think there aren't ways of getting around it?" James asked, amused. "If you don't want to, that's fine. I can talk to them tomorrow."

"Nah, it's fine, but why can't you go by yourself?"

"Because they're waiting to meet you, so I don't really think I'd be all that welcome alone," James grinned. "Come on, our quarters are right through here." He moved aside a tapestry of a golden griffin battling a small dragon, revealing another corridor. They walked past two doors, turning into the last one.

"Make yourself at home," James teased lightly. "I've got to go get something from my trunk. Your room is through there. Your trunk should already be here. I'll be right back." He continued through the door on the right. Sirius just sank onto the couch, thinking that this had been more to take in than he would have ever wanted. Honestly, this time last night, he had been dreading what Malfoy, Snape, and MacNair might do to him for the last prank he had pulled on them. It was hard to believe that that had only been 24 hours ago.

"Are you ready?" James asked, re-entering the room. He was carrying what appeared to be a cloak and a spare piece of parchment.

"Yeah," Sirius said, glancing at what James was holding.

"Let me just check to make sure they're still waiting, then," James said. He muttered some words Sirius couldn't make out, and glanced at the parchment. "Yeah, they're still there. Let's go." He was about to put the cloak on, but stopped, seeing that Sirius was still sitting there. "You know, this works better if you're standing," he teased. Sirius grinned slightly, and did as asked. James swung the cloak around them.

"I thought this was just an ordinary cloak," Sirius gasped, looking down to find himself invisible. James just grinned. "Aren't these really rare?"

"Yeah, probably. This one has been in the family for ages," James grinned. The set off, James looking down at the parchment - that turned out to be a map, with moving dots on it that represented people in the castle.

After exiting their rooms, they walked through more twists and turns than Sirius thought he'd ever be able to remember.

"We're here!" James said finally, coming to a stop in front of a portrait of a large lady in a pink dress. James pulled the cloak off of them.

"Why, hello, James," the lady smiled. "I haven't seen much of you today. Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"I've been busy moving, and then I went to Hogsmeade. Surely you've heard about the Ministry's latest bout of insanity?"

"Yes, Vi told me. Sounds like complete rubbish. Most of those children were sent to Durmstrang for a reason, you know."

"Um, right. This is Sirius Black, by the way." James grinned as the lady grew flustered.

"So sorry…didn't realize," she sputtered.

"Nice to meet you," Sirius smiled as the lady sputtered out apologies. "And I quite agree that most of the students there should stay there, even if _I've_ never particularly wanted to."

"Quite right," the lady said, blushing as pink as her dress. "Password?"

"Dragonfly," James said. The lady swung open, revealing a boy with light brown or dark blond hair (Sirius couldn't decide which) and gold eyes, and a girl with red hair and green eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own next to nothing; the majority of this is JKR's.

Author's Note: The long awaited fifth chapter. I can practically hear some of you going 'Finally!' I had severe writing block for quite some time with parts of this story, and school starting back up sure didn't help. This is mostly a transition chapter, as nothing much happens. The next one will have something big, unless I come up with something I think is better, which has been known to happen.

Thanks to all the awesome reviewers! You guys are awesome!

Now, on with the story...

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 5

James entered the common room first. Sirius hung back, feeling a little shy, which he hadn't thought possible up 'til then. Something about these two was just a little intimidating...probably because they were two people who wouldn't do what he wanted just because he was a Black. There had been quite a few people like that at Durmstrang. He didn't particularly like it, unless he didn't like the other person; then he could just tell them to leave him alone, and they usually would, for fear of having a Black's temper directed at them. James suddenly noticed that Sirius wasn't with him anymore, and doubled back to the portrait hole to drag him into the room.

"Come on. Believe it or not, they won't bite...too much," James teased, dragging him into the room. Sirius let him, knowing it would look even worse for him if he didn't. He didn't want those two to think he didn't want to meet them.

"Well, as far as James knows, anyway," the redhead said, grinning. They had been bickering when James and Sirius had first entered, ending with the girl giving the boy a slap across the head. "We could secretly be vampires or something."

"Not with that tan," Sirius said before he could stop himself. The others laughed.

"That is Lily," James said, flopping down into an armchair near the couch where the other two were sitting. Sirius followed suit. "Her partner in crime over there is Remus. This is Sirius," he said to the two sitting on the couch.

"Great to meet you," Lily grinned. Remus nodded, not looking quite as happy. "I heard that you went to Hogsmeade today. How was it?" Lily asked James and Remus. James flopped down on the couch opposite the one that Lily and Remus were sitting on. Sirius simply stood there, not really sure what to do, before sitting in an armchair between the couches.

They talked for quite a while...in fact, Sirius lost track of time. He was tired from all that had happened that day, and dozed for most of their conversation. The other three didn't seem to notice - at least, they didn't say anything about it. He didn't really wake up until he heard James exclaim over how late it was.

"We've got to go!" he was saying as he stood up. Sirius almost fell out of his chair, he was so startled.

"All right," he said, still groggy.

"I'm sorry about that," James said as they left the common room.

"It's all right," Sirius said sleepily.

"No, I really am. I shouldn't 'a drug you up there after the long day you've had," James said as they rounded the corner, completely invisible. Sirius was about to respond when he felt James's hand over his mouth. There, right in front of them, was an old man and a cat. Sirius looked at James as if he had lost his mind, but neither said anything until the man and his cat had passed.

"What on earth was that all about?" Sirius asked, still looking like he thought that James belonged in the nut house.

"That was Filch and Mrs. Norris," James said, not seeing a need for further explanation.

"Excuse me for saying this, but so?" Sirius asked. He was tired, in a strange place, and had way too much happen to him that day for him to even _remotely_ understand what was such a big deal.

"Filch is the caretaker that Dumbledore was talking about earlier. He's the one that gets to punish us if we get in fights and stuff. Mrs. Norris is his cat. She reports to him, and getting caught by her is about as bad as getting caught by him," James said. He apparently wasn't picking up on Sirius's grumpiness. "Anyway, here we are!" While they had been talking, they had reached their rooms.

"Night," Sirius told James as he walked into his room.

"Night," James called after him.

Sirius didn't think he'd be able to sleep, but, as it often happens in these situations, he was out like a light. That didn't mean it was a peaceful sleep, however - he had horrible dreams, both of what had happened to him and what he was sure would happen to him.

He woke to someone shaking him. "Sirius! Wake up! It's just a dream!" Sirius wasn't even aware that he'd been screaming.

"Sorry," Sirius said sheepishly, glancing up at James and then quickly back down at the bed once he got his bearings.

"It's all right," James replied, blinking sleepily. "What was it about?"

"…nothing…"

"Yup. And your hair's lighter than Dumbledore's. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But don't insult what little intelligence I have," James grinned, the sleep still obvious in his eyes.

"Fine. Something," Sirius retorted, lying back down and rolling over, thinking the topic closed.

"You know, it helps to talk about it," James said, settling himself into the armchair in the room.

"Really, now?" Sirius asked, trying to sound sarcastic. In all actuality, he had never talked to anyone about his nightmares. His family and Snape hadn't ever cared. In fact, he had taken to putting up silencing charms around his bed so they wouldn't know. Here, after such an abnormal day, he had forgotten to do so. Alice and Dory would have listened any time he felt like talking about it, but they were usually happy when they were together, and he had never wanted to bring the mood down.

"Really," James replied, either missing the fake sarcasm or seeing through it.

"That's all right," Sirius said, somewhat shyly.

"No, really, go ahead," James said, a little more awake.

"No."

"Fine, then. Good night," James said, quickly changing tactics and settling down more comfortably in the armchair.

"Aren't you going back to your room?" Sirius asked.

"Are you kicking me out?" Sirius shook his head. "Then no."

"Why are you staying there?"

"Because it's closer to where you are, so it's easier to wake you up when you have another nightmare."

"Why do you think I'll have another nightmare?"

"Because Remus always does when he refuses to talk about it. I must say, though, I much prefer your nightmares. Remus's are quite violent, and both of us usually end up bleeding."

"Oh."

Sirius put up his usual silencing charm, and was asleep almost as soon as he stopped concentrating on any one particular thing. He was asleep so fast that he didn't even realize that James had taken down the charms before going to sleep as well.

Within an hour, Sirius was in the middle of another screaming nightmare. He was trying not to cry out as his father beat him in a repeat of what had happened the summer before. He had been told he deserved this for random little things. Of course, they weren't random in his family's eyes, so here he was…

He awoke to someone shaking him...again.

"Told you," James muttered sleepily.

"I thought I put silencing charms up," Sirius asked, confused. He could hear his voice shaking.

"You did. But people rarely avoid talking about dreams or nightmares unless they're really embarrassing, have already happened, or are likely to happen. Since whimpering like you were isn't usually a part of dreams, I'm guessing it was one of the other two."

"How did you get so damn perceptive?" Sirius asked, fighting the tears he had refused to shed in his dream. James simply smiled.

"Lots of experience. Now," he said, settling down on the bed this time. "Talk."

"And if I don't want to?"

"You do. I can see it written all over your face. I have all night, and all tomorrow. You will tell me eventually."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"Like I said, you want to tell _someone_. I just happen to be the closest available person. Second, I'm very good at this. You can ask Remus; he can sit there in silence for quite a while before finally telling me - or rather, he could. Now he just tells me. Makes it a lot easier."

"What are you, a psychiatrist?"

"No, a concerned friend." Sirius just stared at him. He had never had someone care about him quite like this. This boy he had only just met was willing to sacrifice half a night of sleep just to get Sirius to tell him what he had dreamt about. The concern coming from him was something he had rarely felt before.

"You're in for a _long_ wait," Sirius shrugged, sitting back against the headboard. James simply shrugged. They sat like that for hours, neither wanting to give in. Finally, however, Sirius cracked.

"Fine, you want to know?" he burst out. It startled James more than a little - he had been practically asleep when Sirius had yelled. James quickly recovered, however, and nodded.

"I dreamt about what my father does almost every time he sees me. The first time, it was about what he's probably going to do when he finds out I'm engaged - or whatever you want to call it - to you. It's not going to be pretty, even if it isn't the beating my mind came up with. Actually, it'll probably be something worse. Are you happy now?"

"That's not the question. A better one would be, 'Do _you_ feel a little bit better?'"

"Well, now, obviously I'm not asking you that. I could, but not get an actual answer - at least, not the one you want when _you_ ask the question."

"You know what I mean. Do you feel any better?"

"A little," Sirius admitted, seeming almost…ashamed?

"Good. Now, do you want to stay here and try to sleep a little more, or do you want to go to breakfast? We've got a few hours until we can go to Hogsmeade."

"I'd rather sleep," Sirius replied, yawning. James grinned, nodded, and stood up to leave.

"Will you stay here? I'll sleep on the chair, if you want, but I just don't want to be alone." James was about to reply, when Sirius continued. "Never mind. That was a stupid suggestion. Forget I said anything."

"I was going to say that was fine, but if you're sure, I'll be going." James was almost to the door when he turned back around. "You're _supposed_ to say no, don't go."

"Sorry," Sirius grinned. He knew damn well what he was supposed to say, but figured things had gone James's way all night, so they might as well start going his.

"Uh-huh, _sure_," James snorted. He walked back over to the armchair and flopped down, throwing his legs over one of the arms.

"You know, I did offer to take that chair," Sirius said.

"Yes, but I'm here already," James muttered sleepily. As long as he could stay awake when he knew he needed to, the ability left him with amazing speed.

Seeing that James was already asleep, Sirius muttered a charm that would set off an alarm in a few hours. The pair slept peacefully.

James jumped slightly at the alarm. He barely stirred other than that, however - at least, Sirius didn't think he did.

"It's time to get up," he called.

"Fine, fine," James grumbled, seemingly remembering it was a Hogsmeade weekend. Sirius watched, clearly amused, as James stumbled out of the room.

"Are you ready to go?" James asked a few minutes later, coming back into Sirius's room. Sirius nodded. He had been reading the Transfiguration book. It seemed that Hogwarts was way behind Durmstrang in Transfiguration, although Hogwarts was way ahead in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and a little ahead in Charms. The Defense Against the Dark Arts part wasn't surprising; all that was taught at Durmstrang was Dark Arts, not the defenses against them.

"We have about thirty minutes before we have to meet up with anyone," James said as Sirius put the book down.

"Who are we meeting?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Oh! That's right! I forgot to tell you. We're meeting everyone else who is in this mess with us. I think Remus and Lily might show up, too."

"Oh," Sirius said. He _knew_ Remus didn't like him. Sirius figured it was because he was a Black. Or because he was stealing his best friend. Or because… Of course! McGonagall had said that they had been caught snogging all over school. Oh, great...Remus hated him because he was stealing his boyfriend! And he didn't even want to! The fact that James was also Remus's best friend _definitely_ didn't help anything, and the fact that Sirius was a Black probably just topped it all off. Could his luck get any worse?

Well, he thought upon further reflection. James and Remus both are having worse luck. James is in the same mess I am, and losing his boyfriend, all because the Ministry are idiots. Remus is losing his boyfriend to someone who neither of them had ever met until yesterday. Yes, the pair of them definitely had worse luck - in most things, anyway.

Without Sirius realizing, James had led him over to a black space of wall. That was…odd. Not only did _most_ people exit rooms through doors, but this was the only area of wall that Sirius had seen since he had arrived at Hogwarts that was this big without _something_ on or against it.

"Hogsmeade, please," James said politely. Sirius wondered who he was talking to, until he saw the wall move.

"What the hell?" Sirius asked, shocked. He could see people walking around outside of the hole, as if he was watching through a window.

"This wall is a portal to almost anywhere you could want to go in the Wizarding World. The real exception is private residences, but you can get there, too, if you have permission to be there, or are closely related. You just have to ask nicely." While James had been explaining this, they had been walking towards what Sirius assumed was Hogsmeade. It was a lot farther to walk than Sirius would have thought at first.

"It's about time you got here!" Lily exclaimed, launching herself over to them.

"Sorry, Lily," James said, unwrapping her arms from around his neck. As soon as James had worked his way free, she proceeded to hug Sirius, who, it was safe to say, was more than slightly shocked.

"We should get going," James said after Lily released her death grip on Sirius. The others nodded. They walked to the Three Broomsticks in silence.

"Well, how did everyone get along?" James asked as they sat down. The glares he got from almost everyone were more than enough of an answer.

Author's Note: Well, how did you like it? I personally don't think it's one of my best chapters, but I usually don't think that about chapters I work on when I have writer's block. Thanks again to all who have reviewed. Now, do it again! Pretty please? You've already done the hard and long part by reading it, now _please_ just tell me what you think in a review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except maybe the plot. All else belongs to JKR.

Author's Note: I can practically hear the chorus of 'Finally!' hehe. Ireally don't blame you. All I can do is apologize and blame homework, perticularly geography group projects. However, I have updated this just for you! This is more of a transition chapter, in my opinion. The next one (I think; it might be the one after that, but I don't think so). Anyway, enjoy!

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 6

"Oh, just swimmingly," Molly said sarcastically. She looked close to tears, as if everything was finally catching up to her and she was about to break down.

James grimaced. Having met Sirius, he knew for certain that he was going to have a much better time with this than some of the others. Looking at Frank and Alice, and Dory and Arthur, he figured they would probably have it easier as well. Glancing around the Three Broomsticks, he noticed that he wasn't the only one who had friends who had decided to come to this 'meeting.' He saw Gideon and Fabian Prewett sitting at a nearby table, as well as a few of their friends. Beth and Amelia had their entire year from Hufflepuff at a nearby table. They were _trying_ to look inconspicuous - trying and failing, but it was the thought that counted. Frank and Arthur each had two of their closest friends at a table; they were doing a much better job at pretending that they just "happened" to be there. James glanced behind him, at the spot where Lily and Remus had been. They had apparently found some friends from the Charms Club that they both belonged to and were off talking to them.

The group sat talking for quite a while. It wasn't what anything in their right mind could call pleasant conversation, but there was no spell work, so no one considered it a failure.

"I want to see more of Hogsmeade," Alice said after about an hour. The group started splitting up to go their own directions. James noticed that most of the entourage that they had each arrived with had left...all but the Prewett twins. Of course, that was different, as they were protecting their sister. James could vividly remember what all had happened to Arthur when he had first started to date Molly, and the twins had liked him well enough. He could only imagine what would happen to Lucius. Of course, if what James had seen today was any indicator, he would more than deserve it.

"What do you want to see?" James asked Sirius as they left the Three Broomsticks.

"Don't really care," Sirius shrugged. He seemed to be lost in thought. "How about the Shrieking Shack? Isn't it supposed to be the most severely haunted building in all of Britain?"

"I don't know about that "most severely haunted" bit, but we can go," James said, trying to suppress a grin. Sirius simply nodded, still lost in his own little world.

They spent the rest of the day like this, seeing the sites in Hogsmeade. Sirius eventually pulled himself away from whatever he had been thinking about so intensely, and actually seemed to enjoy the visit.

"We should probably be going," James said, glancing at his watch as they came out of Zonko's, both having considerably fewer galleons than they had come in with.

"All right," Sirius agreed. They hurried up to the castle, and straight to the Great Hall for supper. While they weren't the last to arrive, they weren't exactly on time, either.

"Now that we're all here," Dumbledore said, his eyes following the last few Hufflepuffs over to their table, "I can begin the announcements. As I'm sure you've all read in the Daily Prophet, the Ministry has decided to take certain steps to hopefully decrease the chasm between the families that supposedly support Light magic, and those who supposedly support Dark magic. Now, keep in mind that just because a person's family's reputation states that they support one or the other, it's not necessarily true. It's our choices who make us who we are, not what we're born in to. I ask you all to remember that in the coming years, as I fear that prejudice will play a larger than usual role in what is sure to be a war with the one who calls himself Lord Voldemort. However, the dark times that could arise aren't here yet, so I suggest we enjoy what time we have! It is my pleasure to introduce to you the six transfer students from Durmstrang, Sirius Black, Walden MacNair, Lucius Malfoy, Dorcas Meadowes, Alice Rosier, and Severus Snape. Would those six kindly join me up here, please?" As Dumbledore said that, McGonagall appeared with the Sorting Hat. "It is tradition at Hogwarts to sort all of the students into one of the four houses. I'm sure you've at least heard the names of the four. You can learn each house's noble history after you have been Sorted. When I call your name, please come forward and place the hat on your head. Black, Sirius!"

Sirius groaned mentally. Who, exactly, was the idiot that decided B had to be the second letter in the alphabet? He walked forward, and placed the hat on his head.

"Hmm, haven't seen one of your blood for a very long time," a voice that he could only assume was that of the hat murmured. "Yes, and much smarter than the last one I had to sort from your family; not as evil, either. Even if he was only eleven, I was quite sure what he could go out into the world to do. Now, let's see...Where should I put you? I don't usually ask, but do you have a preference?"

"Just not Slytherin," Sirius thought sternly.

"Well, that makes it slightly easier. I'll ignore that thirst to prove yourself...can't help but notice it, though. Hmm. You're loyal to all those you feel deserve your loyalty, which is most definitely a Hufflepuff trait. You are smart, but you don't have the thirst for knowledge that is necessary for Ravenclaw. You most certainly are brave, I'll give you that. You also have some of that reckless courage that would drive you to save anyone you considered worthy, although, most of the time it's _fairly_ balanced. Hmm. I see you've made some friends in Gryffindor. I believe that's where I'll place you...I fear you'll need them greatly in the coming years. And don't worry about young Mr. Lupin, he'll come around. GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius could tell the hat had shouted the last word. He pulled the hat off, and walked towards the cheering table. James smiled at him, and Sirius attempted to grin back. It must have worked, for James turned to watch the rest of the Sortings.

The rest of dinner passed in a blur for Sirius. He could vaguely remember picking at different foods that had somehow found their way onto his plate, although he couldn't say for certain if he had put them their or not. He heard James, as if through some kind of barrier, tell Remus and Lily good night. He saw James start off and, putting two and two together, figured he had better follow him if he wanted to get up to the room tonight. He made it back with minimal mishaps, for which he was grateful. However, his luck didn't continue.

"Is something wrong?" James asked, trying not to find the situation too funny. Sirius had bumped into almost every piece of furniture in the room, and they had only been back for about five minutes.

Sirius shook his head absently. He continued pacing, tripping over a footstool and running into a chair.

"_Something_ is wrong," James said. "Do you want me to go get Alice or Dorcas? You'd probably be more comfortable talking to them."

"No, it's fine," Sirius said, walking into an end table.

"If you're sure," James replied. "Are you sure you don't at least want to change your pacing patterns, so you aren't sore tomorrow?" Sirius managed a half-hearted glare, but did alter his path, and seemed to watch where he was going more.

"If you haven't figured it out by tomorrow, at the first lesson, I'll tell you, okay?" he said, his tone clearly indicating that he wanted the subject dropped. James caught the hint, and said no more except that he was going to bed.

The next morning, James awoke to see Sirius still pacing, although it was clear from his rumpled clothes that he had at least laid down at some point during the night. They walked down to breakfast, where James learned what Sirius had been fearing.

He spotted his family's owl flying towards him with a black envelope. He knew exactly what that envelope meant. While most other students would be happy that they hadn't gotten a Howler, which was the worst form of punishment for many, Sirius would have been relieved to see one. These were always much worse.

He stared at the letter fearfully for a moment, before coming to his senses. He hurriedly grabbed the letter from the owl and fled up to his bedroom. James, noticing the look of fear on his face, got up to follow, and noticed Alice and Dory doing the same.

"What, exactly, was that letter?" James asked as they ran up the stairs.

"A letter from Sirius's parents," Alice answered, less out of breath than Dory.

"Well, at least it wasn't a Howler," James pointed out as they got nearer.

"No, it's worse," Alice said as they came to a stop. She frantically tried the door, but it was locked. She was apparently expecting this, as she slid down the door. "The Blacks found a way to curse letters. No, it's worse than what most people can do," she said, catching the look on James's face. "They have a parchment at their house that they can link letters that they send to. They can then cast any spell they want to at that piece of parchment, and it will carry over to the letter. They can only cast for as long as the envelope remains unopened, and the effects don't take place until the envelope is opened, either. The first charms they always cast on the parchment are silencing charms and locking charms or wards, so no one can get near to the recipient, or hear them, either. We've tried every locking counter we know, and we've still come up with nothing. I just hope that the owl knew Sirius was at Hogwarts, and came directly here - otherwise, his parents have had plenty of time to curse the parchment." James was horrified.

"So there's no way to get in?" he asked, a disbelieving look coming across his face.

"No," Dory said sadly, sitting beside Alice. "But at least the curses are in reduced time. For example, if they cursed the parchment with the Cruciatus for a minute, it will only last for 15 seconds once it gets there. They don't use them often, as it usually requires less magical energy to just show up wherever the person is, hex them senseless, and go home. However, they can't exactly show up at a school every time they think Sirius needs punished, so…they reverted to the letters." The trio sat in silence for about an hour, until they could finally get into the room.

Alice and Dory rushed in first, followed closely by James. They found Sirius lying in a bloody heap on the floor; however, there were no cuts or bruises anywhere on him.

"Where did all the blood come from?" James asked.

"When the owl gets close, an alarm goes back through the parchment. They quickly finish the curse they're casting, and then cast strong healing charms. They don't take away the pain at all, but they heal whatever cuts or other injuries he may have gotten. Judging from the way he's lying, I would say they used quite a few bone breaking jinxes, followed by Cruciatus. I have some pain relievers in my trunk. Could you go get them?" Alice said, hurriedly, but with altogether too much assurance, checking Sirius's wounds. James got the distinct and horrible impression that they had both done this too many times for _anyone's_ liking. He simply nodded, however, and dashed out to the rooms where he knew she and Frank were staying.

He burst into the room, ignoring Frank's startled cries. He dashed into Alice's room, and dug hurriedly through her trunk, Frank watching him the entire time. He finally found a First Aid kit, grabbed it, and hurriedly left the room, Frank hot on his heels. He quickly re-entered his own rooms, to find that Alice and Dory had moved Sirius to his bed.

"What is all that blood from?" Frank asked, eyes wide, as he came into the room. No one answered as Alice quickly took the First Aid kit from James, handing Dory the strongest pain relieving potions she could find. Slowly, the tense look on Sirius's face faded. Eventually, he seemed to settle into a deep sleep.

"Shouldn't he have gone to Madame Pomfrey?" Frank asked as they gathered in the living area. Alice and Dory exchanged a look.

"No. She would have had to tell Dumbledore, who would have made it public once he tried to get custody taken away from Sirius's parents. The Blacks would have won, because as powerful as Dumbledore is, the Blacks are rich enough to buy their way out of just about anything, and they have a list of people who owe them 'favors' about a mile long. After they won, Sirius would have gotten it even worse," Dory explained. "Shitty arrangement, I know, but he's survived sixteen and a half years with them; surely he can last another six months."

"I hope so," James said, shooting a forlorn look at the closed door.

Eventually, the group settled in. Frank decided to go back to his rooms, as he had really only come to see what, exactly, James had taken from Alice's trunk. Alice and Dory settled in for a game of wizard's chess, and James curled up in an armchair, reading a book. Occasionally, one would rise to check on Sirius. It was on one of these visits from James that he awoke.

"How long have I been out?" Sirius asked groggily. It startled James, who had just turned to leave.

"About two hours," James replied. Sirius nodded.

"It must not have been too bad, then."

"Not too bad?" James practically yelped.

"Nah. I've been out for half a day before. Of course, that was the first time they used more than one Cruciatus in a letter." The way Sirius said it, it sounded like every child in the world received illegal hexes in the mail from their parents. James could hardly keep from gaping.

"Does this kind of thing happen often?" James asked, disbelieving. Or, more accurately, refusing to believe.

"Not too often," Sirius shrugged. "Just when they feel I've done something to deserve it, which, even though it might be more often than not, has to be something they consider big, as it's magically draining to them, too. In fact, I bet they passed out before the letter got close enough to signal arrival. As much as they like to brag, neither of my parents are all that strong in anything but money."

"How can you be so…calm about this? Last night, you were walking into furniture."

"Well, the worst is over, isn't it? Last night, it was the wait that was making me fidgety. I doubt I could have stayed still if you'd stunned me. Now, however, it's after the fact, and it's over with for quite a while. Add that to the fact I was expecting it, and I don't have too much to be upset over."

"You don't have too much to be upset over?" James asked faintly. Sirius was about to answer when suddenly he let out a groan instead.

"What's wrong?" James asked, taking in the grimace on Sirius's face. "Oh! The potions! I'll go tell Alice you need more!" With that, he shot out the door.

Author's Note: Well, how did you like it? Was it worth the wait? Erm...maybe you shouldn't answer that. Anyway, review!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: haha. I own nothing. Well, nothing you recognize. That belongs to JKR.

Author's Note: Hope you all appreciate how fast I've been with this update. : grumble grumble : Just kidding! This chapter was much easier to write, as I actually knew what I wanted to happen, instead of filling in details. Anyway, here it is!

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 7

Alice hurried into the room and administered more pain potions. This process was repeated about once every four hours. Of course, it moved locations, as after the first hour Sirius was quite sick of being stuck in bed. Amid many protestations, he moved to the living room. However, this seemed to be a big enough move for him, and he sat there playing or watching games of wizards chess. The day continued on in the same peaceful manner.

The next morning, James woke up to find Sirius already dressed and waiting for him. "You're actually going to class today?" James asked incredulously. "You could just stay here, you know."

"I could, but I'd get lonely," Sirius said, making puppy-dog eyes at James, who simply rolled his own. "Actually, I doubt I could get out of classes my first day here without an ironclad excuse from the school nurse, which won't happen, as I'm not going to see her." James nodded, remembering the conversation from the day before. "Now, hurry up and get ready so we can get down to breakfast. I'm starving!"

"I don't doubt that," James laughed back, already heading to the bathroom. "You don't have to wait, you know."

"I know. But if I don't, I'll get lost, and it'll take even _longer_ to get food!" More laughter was the only answer he got.

Eventually the pair made it down to breakfast. They were just walking into the Great Hall when Professor McGonagall cornered them.

"Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office. Immediately. The password is 'Fizzing Whizbees.'"

"But Professor - food…," James groaned, looking longingly into the Great Hall.

"You will undoubtedly get excused from your first class," McGonagall said, rolling her eyes. "You can go to the kitchens after."

"Why, Professor, what on earth gives you the idea that I would know where the kitchens are?" James asked innocently.

"Mr. Potter, I have personally caught you down there more times than I would care to count. Now go!" James snorted, but set off, pulling Sirius after him.

"Why is it that I've seen an entire four parts of the castle?" Sirius asked as they neared the stone gargoyle they were getting extremely familiar with. Not that James wasn't anyway; he and Remus were sent here at least once every two weeks.

"Fizzing Whizbees," Sirius said, wondering what this could be about.

"Ah, boys, thank you for joining us," Dumbledore said. Sirius and James glanced around, noticing that everyone else who was forced into this situation was there as well. "I'm glad you all could make it."

"Like we had a choice," Lucius muttered. Dumbledore ignored him, although Molly glared.

"I received some rather unwelcome news this morning from this morning. In one month, the Ministry will send people to inspect the couples. They expect you to be very…together...by this point."

"What!" everyone screamed.

"We don't even like each other!" Molly added shrilly.

"I'm sorry," Dumbledore said. He did look truly miserable. There wasn't even a hint of a twinkle in his eye. "They didn't come right out and say what the consequences of not being "together" would be, but they did make it quite clear that they would be grave."

"How can they seriously expect something like that to happen that fast when they're pairing up people who have been raised from birth to hate each other?" Snape asked. Beth nodded emphatically.

"We need to do something," Lucius said. Everyone stared at him.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Molly snapped. "What, exactly are we supposed to do?"

"Think about it. We come from the twelve most influential families in the Wizarding World; that's why we're in this mess! I say we write our parents. Yours can do what you do best, and ours can do what they do best."

"And what exactly do they do best?" James asked.

"For you that originally attended Hogwarts, guilt-trips and debates. Or reasoning, whatever you want to call it. For those of us from Durmstrang, most likely bribery, blackmail, or threats. All of us can probably call in some favors. Even if we can't get this stupid law reversed, maybe we can get them to not come inspect us."

"That just might work," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "You are excused from your first lesson to write your letters home. You may go now."

The teens left in groups, each drafting a letter home in their head. "Do you really think that will work?" one of the portraits of a former Headmaster asked.

"I don't know," Dumbledore was forced to reply.

Meanwhile, down in the kitchens, the house elves were practically beside themselves having twelve people to serve. It turned out McGonagall had let none of them get inside the Great Hall, and they were all starving.

"So, do we say who else is being asked for help?" Beth asked.

"Absolutely not," James and Snape chorused at the same time, before glaring at each other. "If I told my parents they were going to be siding with some of the parents of some of your parents, they'd tell me too bad, they aren't doing it," Snape added. Malfoy, McNair, and Sirius nodded, while Alice and Dory looked thoughtful.

"My parents wouldn't _not _help," James said. "They just wouldn't be at all happy."

"Well, we can't have that, now, can we?" Malfoy asked, rolling his eyes. James (probably wisely) chose not to respond. No one said anything, in fact, and aside from the sounds of breakfast being eaten and the house elves preparing dinner, there was silence in the kitchens.

"Well, I'm done," James said about twenty minutes later, throwing down his quill. A few of the others nodded, especially Beth and Molly. Within another ten minutes, however, everyone else was done as well.

"We need to get going," Amelia said, glancing at her watch. "We'll have to post these at lunch." The others nodded, and the scraping of chairs was heard as they prepared to go to their next class.

"Where's the Potions classroom?" Snape asked to the room in general.

"I can show you, I'm going there anyway," James volunteered. "Anyone else?" After a few moments of deciding who was showing who where, the group set off, with only minutes to spare until their next class.

Minutes turned into hours, which turned into days. Days then changed to weeks, and before anyone quite realized what had happened, half the time until the Ministry visit had disappeared. In that time, Sirius and James had become even better friends, although they still hadn't gotten together, at least not as far as the Ministry wanted them to be. Sirius and Lily had become friends as well, after discovering that both excelled in Potions. Lily seemed to welcome the chance to talk to someone about it, as neither Remus or James had much skill to speak of in that subject. Remus, however, had, if anything, grown more distant. Sirius decided he needed to fix this.

"Remus, can I talk to you?" Sirius asked one evening after he had _finally_ cornered Remus in the library. The boy was _extremely_ hard to track.

"Sure," Remus said, outwardly friendly, although Sirius, who had many years of experience in reading people, knew he was wary, if not apprehensive. "Should we go back to the common room?"

"We don't have to," Sirius shrugged. He opened his mouth to say more, but closed it again, obviously unsure about how to continue.

"Would you like to sit down?" Remus asked after several moments of silence.

"I'm sorry," Sirius suddenly burst out.

"What for?" Remus asked, confusion showing in his eyes.

"For having to come, and for coming between you and James," Sirius explained, refusing to look _at_ Remus, quite preferring the bookshelf slightly above his head.

"Oh!" Remus said, taken aback, as if that were the last thing he had expected to hear. "Don't worry about it, I'm not mad."

"Which explains why you've been avoiding me," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "If that's not it, tell me what it is, and I'll do my best to fix it. And if it's because I'm a Black, I'm fairly certain I hate that fact even more than you do."

"It's just…the situation, I suppose. I started out hating you, for the first reasons you mentioned. Eventually, the more…rational part of my brain convinced the rest of it that it wasn't your fault. However, that was only two days ago. I haven't really had a chance to start making amends."

Sirius nodded, not completely sure what to make of the story. It was more than just a little odd. Before he could wonder if he was schizophrenic or something, Remus stuck out a hand. "Friends?"

"Friends," Sirius confirmed as they shook hands.

As the next two weeks passed, Sirius and Remus didn't exactly become friends; they became more like allies. Neither would actively seek the other out, but neither would avoid the other as they had been previously.

Sirius and James also worked on acting more like they were dating. It really wasn't as hard as either of them expected. The biggest turnaround, however, was in Molly and Malfoy's relationship. They had gone from absolutely loathing each other to practically hanging all over each other seemingly overnight.

"It's easier this way," Molly had said when asked. "They aren't going to dig as deep if we seem to be truly in love. They won't question the silencing charms if they think they're up for…things other than us screaming at each other." After hearing this logic, McNair and Amelia decided to adopt this philosophy. Apparently, Snape and Beth got along better than anyone would have suspected, because they decided they didn't need to act, as did the other three couples. Alice and Frank had actually started dating instead of simply pretending.

The night before the Ministry officials were scheduled, each teen got a letter from their parents. In short, they all said the same thing: they had been unable to sway the Ministry in any way, shape, or form. The next day came all too soon.

The twelve students were once again pulled out of class, this time around noon. McGonagall escorted them to Dumbledore's office, where they saw six of the most official looking people they had ever or would ever see in their entire lives.

Each of the six wore plain work robes and carried clipboards with quite a bit of parchment attached. They had quills in hand, as if they had been instructed the start taking notes over the couples as soon as they had been introduced. Several bottles of ink hung from their belts. All wore the same expression: bored and uninterested.

"I have the pleasure of introducing you to the six Ministry officials that have been assigned to stay here at Hogwarts until the second week of December," Dumbledore said as the twelve students sat down. While his voice sounded incredibly cheerful and polite, his face told a different story - and he wasn't trying to hide his true feelings, for a change. His disgust for the officials and why they were there stood out clearly in his expression. "Each one has been assigned to a couple. They know who all of you are, so, if they could please move to the assigned couple?" He raised his eyes questioningly at the Ministry workers. They seemed as if they were actually debating it for a short while, but then they moved. A tall, blonde woman approached James and Sirius. Sirius managed a weak smile, but the lady looked as if her face might crack if she tried to return it. James didn't even bother trying.

"Could you please show me to your rooms?" she asked coldly. James and Sirius glanced at each other. It was going to be a _long_ month and a half.

"Um, sure," James said, sending another weak glance towards Sirius.

That first week was the hardest either of them had ever experienced. They were continually dancing around each other, trying to pretend they were together, while it was obvious to most people they really weren't. The witch didn't seem to notice, however; if she did, she didn't say anything. The strong bond that had grown between Sirius and James was stronger than the bond between most teenage couples, anyway, so what difference did it make?

That Saturday was the first Quidditch match of the season. Tryouts had taken longer than normal that year, pushing the season back. The first match was, of course, Slytherin versus Gryffindor.

James was on pins and needles. He always was nervous before a Quidditch match, but this was getting to be a bit much. He decided that it was because scouts had come from a few different professional Quidditch teams. And because it was the first game of the season. And because they hadn't had as much practice as they should have. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that this was the first game Sirius would see him play...right?

James only half-heartedly listened to the warm-up speech, much too anxious to get out on the pitch. However, when he was actually standing out on the grass, watching the captains shake hands and then mounting his broom as Madame Hooch released the snitch and bludgers, and still after he kicked off, he decided he would much rather be listening to the pep talk.

The quaffle was thrown into the air, and it was as if James went on automatic. He instantly dove forward, snatching the quaffle before anyone else was anywhere close. He and the other Gryffindor chasers passed brilliantly, each having worked together in years past. They could anticipate almost exactly where another person would be at any given time. Slytherin's chasers were nowhere near as good, but, as usual, the team in green had brute force on its side. The beaters were the biggest that had tried out and could fly and swing a bat at the same time. They couldn't even really aim, either at the bludger or at the person they were hitting it towards.

Soon, Gryffindor was up 60-10. It would have been more for Gryffindor, but the Slytherin Keeper was actually pretty good. It could have been less for Slytherin, but the beaters has actually had a moment of brilliance instead of their usual fit of ignorance, and aimed both bludgers at the keeper. And their bats _actually_ hit the bludgers, and the bludgers _actually_ hit the keeper. All too soon, the seekers dove. James could hear the fans cheering their seeker on. Most of the players froze, watching the race. James, however, had been expecting that, and grabbed the quaffle, scoring three goals by the time Gryffindor finally caught the snitch. James sunk to the ground, quite disappointed that the game was over already. All thoughts of anxiousness had fled his mind completely.

Author's Note: If anyone is confused about the timeline (which, as I can't write these all at one time as, I was for a little bit) the law is passed after a little less than a month into school, making it September when they meet. It then takes a month and a few days for the Ministry to come, making it almost/early November. Then, after a month and a half, it's two weeks until Christmas and the Ministry leaves.

Hope you liked it! Anyway, you've read, now review! Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, and the chapters before that. If you want an answer to a question you left in a review, please leave your e-mail address, as we're not supposed to answer them in author's notes anymore. Thanks for reading; please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Sorry about that. I hadn't noticed that I skipped numbering chapter 8 until after I had posted it, and haven't had time to change it since. That _was, _however, the real chapter 8, so this is no different than what you've already read.

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 8

There was a tense silence throughout the group as they sat outside the office, awaiting the verdict from the Ministry. Inside the office, it was certainly tense, but it was anything but silent.

"Really, Dumbledore, how could you expect us to be happy with these results?" the woman who had observed Severus and Beth all but screamed. "Only one couple has become anything more than friends!"

"But, Miss Jones, they have all become, at the very least, allies, if not actual friends. We haven't had to punish any of them for fighting of any kind! Not so much as an extremely harsh word has been exchanged, much less a spell! I'm actually most impressed no one has ended up dead!" Noting the surprised looks worn by the Ministry workers, he continued. "I didn't expect one member of any of the pairs to ill the other. However, we have been very lucky that the families, given whom you've paired together, haven't started methodically taking each other out! You seem to have forgotten that most of those families are rich enough to cover their tracks, hire assassins, even hire spell creators to give them a new way to kill one another! They could bribe anyone they wanted for a cover story! You can spout all you want about how they would never go against the Ministry," Dumbledore said, holding up a hand to stop the indignant witch from speaking. "But if they really decided to go against you, I'd bet on them!"

"We've got hundreds, if not thousands, of supporters," Miss Jones (who seemed to be the spokeswoman of the group) pointed out smugly.

"Again, if push comes to shove, how many of your Aurors would follow the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement over Edward Potter, head of the Auror division? A pencil-pusher verses someone they have fought shoulder to shoulder with and who many view as their friend? How many of your Potions Masters would continue following the Minister in the Department of Mysteries if the Snape family asked them to follow them instead? They are, after all, a family long respected in that field, not to mention highly influential! If the chance to be seen as an ally to the Snape family didn't make up their minds, the threat to revoke their Potions Mastery certification certainly would do the trick. Sisyphus Snape is, after all, the current head of the Potion Masters' guild, and between him and a few of his friends, they could easily revoke the certification of every Potion Master in Britain! How many of the pureblood families in Britain would give up the chance to increase their standing in the eyes of some of the most respected families in the wizarding world in favor of siding with the Ministry of Magic, especially when most of them already feel that you overstepped your boundaries in doing this? Most of them are already allied with one or the other of the twelve families represented in the waiting area. These people have humored you thus far; I wouldn't expect it to last much longer."

"That's preposterous!"

"Is it?" None of the Ministry workers answered, knowing all to well that Dumbledore had a point. Edward Potter had the Aurors under a more complete control than had been seen for about two hundred years. There was absolutely no doubt about to whom the Aurors were most loyal. The Snapes had been highly respected in the field of Potions for untold centuries, and many people involved in the area would kill for a chance to be respected by or even associated with them. Simply the fact that a Snape was asking a favor would be enough for most, and for the rest, the threat of losing the title of Potions Master would be ample reason. Edward Potter held a similar threat over the aurors, although he was greatly hindered by the fact that he could be ousted at any time, unlike Sisyphus, as the Potions Masters' guild had more control within the Ministry than the Ministry had over them. It also didn't help the Ministry's cause when one considered that each of the twelve families was extremely well respected, not to mention diverse. Even if one of the other pureblood families didn't like the way the Malfoys or Blacks did business, they couldn't help but like the Potters or the Prewetts. If some of them thought that the Weasleys or Longbottoms were simply a bunch of muggle-loving fools, they usually found that the Snapes or Rosiers met their needs quite well. Each of the twelve were also well-connected, and had enough information between them to blackmail just about anyone on the face of the earth. If they didn't have the information already, they certainly had the means to get it.

The officials gave up. They knew that no one would stand for the twelve students being pulled out of school, which was potentially the least that could happen. One by one, the couples were called in and told that they were progressing satisfactorily, but there would be another visit soon after Christmas, by which time they were expected to have progressed a good deal more.

There were many sighs of relief from the students as they made their way back to their rooms, and it was with slightly lighter hearts that they turned their attention towards the Christmas holidays, busily buying gifts and making plans.

888

"Uh, James?" Sirius asked tentatively. He was lying on the couch in their main room in their quarters, reading a letter he had gotten at breakfast. James was sitting by the desk, trying to finish his transfiguration essay. It was his firm belief that teachers actually _liked_ grading stuff over the Christmas holidays.

"Yeah?" James answered, glad for any excuse to get away from the essay: 'Discuss three methods employed when changing a mouse into a clock.' Honestly, _who cares_?

"What are you doing for Christmas?" Sirius asked, eyes never leaving the letter.

"Staying here, probably. Why?" James asked curiously.

"Would you very much mind coming to my house? For some reason or another, my parents find it necessary to meet you," Sirius said, finally looking up.

"Sure, why not?" James shrugged, reluctantly turning back to his essay, assuming the conversation was over.

"Um, you do realize what they'll expect, don't you?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"What will they expect?" James asked as he turned back, genuinely curious.

"Well…how should I put this? - For us to be a lot more than friends..." Sirius replied. James simply raised his eyebrows. "If you don't want to come, I'll completely understand," he continued hurriedly, misreading the look.

"Nah, I'll still come," James said. "After all, it won't be too hard to pretend, will it?" With that, James turned back to his transfiguration essay, giving Sirius quite a bit to think about.

The days until the Christmas holidays went by quickly. Before anyone really realized what was happening, they were packing their trunks to leave.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Sirius asked one last time. "My family isn't exactly nice."

"I know, Sirius. You've told me. You've shown me letters. I am fully aware that they aren't nice. It'll be fine," James said. At first he had been touched at the concern Sirius had shown, but now it was just getting annoying.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," Sirius said, pretending to sulk. James rolled his eyes. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" James yelled. He had finished packing and was waiting on Sirius (who was looking for a lost sock) before dragging his trunk down to the Entrance Hall.

"Hey, just had to tell you good-bye before you left," Remus said, coming into the room and flopping down in the arm chair. He had practically moved into the rooms with them, doing everything but sleeping there. They had all become such good friends that no one really cared.

"You're staying here, right?" James asked.

"Yes, that's why I'm saying 'bye now, and not at Kings Cross, not to mention the 'you left' instead of 'we left'," Remus responded. James was about to say something, when Sirius came out of his room, pulling his trunk behind him.

"Finally found it. Anyway, I'm ready when you are," he said.

"All right. See you when we get back, Remus," James said, hugging his best friend.

"'Bye James, 'bye Sirius. See you later," Remus smiled. He waved, then left the room.

"Shall we go, then?" James asked. Sirius nodded, and they both shrank their trunks and walked downstairs.

There was quite a crowd gathered already. Finally, after milling around for about half an hour, the professors gave the signal, and the students were allowed to leave the building for the carriages. The huge group swelled forward, pushing their way out the door. There was a brief scuffle for carriages, but it was over fairly quickly in the excitement of getting to go home.

The carriage Sirius and James shared with Dory, Alice, Arthur, and Frank was actually fairly silent...at least, it was quieter than most people would have expected. Soon, they were boarding the train home.

"You're absolutely positive this is the right thing to do?" Sirius asked once more.

"Well, if I wasn't, it's a bit late now, isn't?" James pointed out. Sirius's head shot up so fast James was almost surprised he didn't get whiplash.

"So you ARE regretting this?"

"No, I'm not, I promise," James said, wondering, not for the first time, what had Sirius worried so much.

The ride to Kings Cross Station went a lot faster than Sirius would have liked it to. It was amazing how fast time could fly when you would give anything for it to stop, he mused as he pulled his trunk off the luggage carrier. All too soon, Sirius and James were off the train, searching for Mr. and Mrs. Black.

"There they are," Sirius said, spotting his parents a little apart from the crowd, as if they were too good to stand with the "ordinary" people.

"All right, let's go," James shrugged. Sirius merely nodded, hoping the dread he was feeling was both unnecessary and not showing on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Everything (I think) that you recognize belongs to JKR. The plot, or most of it, belongs to me, however.

Author's Note: Ha! It's much sooner than I thought this would be! I got an...interesting flame for this story, although, since it was apparently taken down, the only thing I'm going to mention about it is that I'm impressed it was signed. Anyway, on with the REAL chapter 9!

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 9

"You will be sharing Sirius's room," Mrs. Black stated as they entered the house. As flooing was considered below the Blacks, they had taken an enchanted limousine. Mr. Black had made sure James knew it was enchanted, as if afraid that word would get around that they, the Blacks, had used something even remotely ordinary.

"Please wash and dress for dinner," Mr. Black added. "We're having a guest."

"Who?" Sirius asked.

"It's a surprise," Mr. Black answered, knowing that this would scare his son the most as he imagined one horrible person after another.

"This is…nice," James stuttered as they headed up the stairs. Sirius could hear his parents practically preening over the 'compliment,' but that was only because they couldn't see the expression on James's face, which was a mixture of revulsion and horror that he was trying to hide upon seeing the house-elf heads that lined the corridor, or hear the _almost_ nonexistent pause in the 'compliment.'

-----James's Point of View-----

The Blacks are really as bad as everyone said. I really didn't think it would be this bad. After all, my entire life I've heard nothing but bad things about the Blacks, Malfoys, Snapes, Rosiers, Meadowses, and MacNairs, only to find out that none of the six I've met are all that bad, and some are pretty nice. I guess I just figured everyone had exaggerated again.

We quickly dropped our stuff off in Sirius's room, with just a quick pause to dig out appropriate clothes. Sirius had decided that since we had been specifically asked to dress nicely, the occasion must call for dress robes, at least. We quickly changed and washed up before heading back downstairs.

We got to the top of the last flight of steps in time to hear the doorbell ring and see a house elf scurry through the hall to answer the door. We heard a voice to tell it to tell Mr. and Mrs. Black that Tom Riddle was here to see him. I heard Sirius gasp, but I was too busy trying to remember where exactly I had heard the name to pay much attention. If I couldn't remember, I would ask him later. Sirius grabbed my arm and started in the direction of the dining room.

-----Normal Point of View-----

Dinner was uncomfortable as introductions went around. After that, it was tense. No one had anything they could say that everyone at the table could safely hear. _Finally_ James, Sirius, and Sirius's little brother, Regulus, were excused.

"Sirius, I need to talk with you before you go to sleep. I'll send a house elf for you when I'm ready," Mr. Black called after them before turning to Riddle. Sirius nodded in acknowledgement, even though he was fairly sure his father wouldn't see it.

"Let's just go," he said quietly to James, pulling him from the room. The two walked up the stairs as silently as they could, James taking his cue from Sirius, who was trying to remain unnoticed. They slipped into Sirius's room.

"Just what was the need for the silence?" James asked as he sat down on the bed...flopped down was probably a more accurate description.

"The portraits don't like me, and they love my parents. If we made any unnecessary noise, I'd most likely be in trouble. Well, Regulus would be too, actually, especially since we have guests. It's part of my parents' 'Children should be seen and not heard' mentality." Sirius flopped down beside James, and the pair stayed that way, conversing quietly, until a house elf popped in, searching for Sirius.

Sirius left the room quickly, leaving James to his own devices. He quickly changed into his pajamas before laying back down, a book in his hand. He didn't read, however. He was more than just a little creeped out by the house, not to mention the majority of the people and things in it. He soon dozed off. He woke up somewhat when Sirius returned, but fell back into a deep sleep soon after the other boy had climbed into the bed.

-----At the Rosier Manor…-----

"Why do you think the Ministry let us go?" Dory was asking Alice. The two girls were lying in Alice's room, gossiping as they did the things teenage girls typically do, especially when together.

"I'm not really sure," Alice said thoughtfully, glancing up from her magazine. "I mean, we're obviously all a lot closer than we were when this whole thing started. However, I really don't think _anyone_ was quite at the level that the Ministry wanted. Even Frank and I weren't, and we were at least dating. Maybe Dumbledore pointed out that, for being from twelve families that are supposed to hate each other, everyone was handling this entire thing remarkably well. Not necessarily legally, as I happen to know Dad has been digging frantically for some blackmail information on any of the Department heads that voted _for_ this, not to mention the Minister. I think he's about decided that if there _was_ any dirt on them, it would have come out when they were appointed. I'm not really sure how Dumbledore managed it, but I guess something he said made the Ministry workers decide that it would probably just be better to take what they could get."

"You've got a point," Dory mused. "I wonder how he accomplished it."

"He's Dumbledore," Alice shrugged. "He says jump, and people ask how high. They might not realize it, but they do all the same."

"Yeah, but it seems like he'd need something more to get them to comply. I wish he could pull the same trick on the Minister."

"Yeah," Alice trailed off, going back to her magazine. "How are you and Arthur getting along?"

"Fine," Dory shrugged. "We're friends. We _could_ become more if we had to, but if something happens to make this law or deal or whatever it is void, then he and Molly will get married, no questions."

"You know, Lucius and Molly are getting along a lot better than I would have expected," Alice said, flipping through the magazine before putting it aside. "Of course, if either of their families heard…having to tolerate each other is one thing; actually liking one another is apparently a different story. Do you think _any _of us will stay together?"

"I think we'll all remain friends," Dory said with conviction. "I think you and Frank will stay together, and I think Severus and Beth will stay together. Molly and Arthur would get married if given the chance. I think Walden and Amelia are too much alike for it to ever truly work. James and Sirius…I wouldn't be surprised if they stayed together, too."

"That just leaves you and Lucius unaccounted for," Alice teased. "Is that a subtle way of telling me you wouldn't mind marrying him?"

"Ew, no!" Dory laughed. Alice quickly joined in. Both girls soon turned back to the stack of magazines on the floor between them.

-----….and Prewett Place…-----

"Hello, George, dear," Mrs. Prewett said as her husband came in the house.

"Hello Jennifer," Mr. Prewett replied, walking over to the stove where his wife was supervising the spoon stirring the gravy for the night's dinner.

"What did you find out today?" Mrs. Prewett asked, referring to the meetings Mr. Prewett had with various department heads as to why they had decided that making the oldest child of the twelve oldest families marry was a good way to unite them.

"Nothing much. The best answer I could get out of most of them was that it didn't really affect them, or it was none of my damn business anyway."

"Oh! Molly got a letter from the Malfoys today. It seems that they have decided to hold a small New Year's Eve party for the teens and their families, ostensibly so we can 'get to know each other.'"

"Sounds nice," Mr. Prewett said, rolling his eyes. "Just what we need, a chance for them to show us just how much more money they have."

"Well, if y_ou_ can get Molly to agree not to go, have at it. She has decided that we definitely need to go, so we can meet Sirius, Alice, and Dory. Even Fabian and Gideon agree that those three 'aren't too bad, for Durmstrang students.'"

"Sirius Black, Alice Rosier, and Dorcas Meadowes? Yes, I heard today that they aren't exactly the norm for that school," Mr. Prewett said thoughtfully.

-----…to Snape Manor…-----

"Mother?" Severus called into the Entrance Hall.

"Severus, is that you?" Mrs. Snape called from the sitting room.

"Come on," he said to Beth, who was looking around the hallway they were standing in with interest. She nodded, and bent to grab her things. "A house elf will come for that," Severus said, glancing back at her. "You had better follow me, or you'll probably get lost. This place is humongous." Beth simply nodded.

"Severus!" Mrs. Snape exclaimed, embracing her son as he walked into the room. "How was the trip? Are you hungry? Have you had a good term? How do you like Hogwarts? It's so good to see you! Ah, and this must be Elizabeth! It's so nice to meet you!" she said, hugging Beth as well.

"It's great to meet you, too," Beth smiled. "I've heard quite a bit about you."

"All good, I hope. You'll be staying in the room next to Severus. The house elves have already taken both your things up. Are either of you hungry?" Both teens shook their heads. "All right, dinner's in two hours. Severus, why don't you show Elizabeth her rooms?" Both teens nodded before turning to leave.

"I know it looks horrible," Severus apologized as the pair looked at Beth's room. It wasn't so much the decorations that were awful, although that could be, because there weren't many. It looked more like a storage room, one where all types of furniture came when they was through being used until there was everything necessary for a bedroom.

"It's not horrible," Beth consoled. "In fact, if you look at it in the right way, it looks homey." Severus couldn't help but stare. "It looks kind of like a bunch of family heirlooms, you know? Maybe they don't make much sense, but they do mean something. Or, at least, that's one way to look at it. Another way would be that the rest of the bedroom suite for each of these pieces got lost, coincidentally leaving a piece that had been lost by all the others. The first one, you must agree, is at least slightly more believable, especially with the variety of knick-knacks that are sitting around."

"I really have no idea," Severus said, trying not to look at her strangely. "Although that's probably because I never really thought about it." Beth shrugged before walking further into the room, leaving Severus to follow her.

Author's Note: Well, how did you like it? Thanks for all who reviewed the last chapter, please review again! Or for the first time, I'm not picky! I thought you all should know, this story is, chronologically speaking, halfway finished. As for how many chapters, I'm not entirely certain. I do, however, have a sequel planned. Anyway, please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. J.K. Rowling does.

Author's Note: I can hear the rousing chorus of 'It's about time!' This chapter was going to continue through Christmas, but it sounded finished, so I left it. That doesn't make much sense, but oh well...

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 10

----...Somewhere in Scotland…----

'This is not working at all the way I'd planned,' a man raged to himself silently. He was pacing his room, as he had done many times before. His feet knew the exact dimensions: eight steps down, turn right. Six strides over, turn right. Then repeat. Everything was conveniently placed against walls, and this man wasn't in the habit of leaving things lying around where they could get in the way - with the kind of work he sometimes did, he couldn't really afford to. 'They were supposed to _hate_ each other, not bond. I guess giving them a common enemy made the hate they had for each other seem insignificant. It's perfectly true that, had they acted the way everyone expected them to, _someone_ would be dead by now. But of course, things can't work how we want them to, can they? Oh _no_, they have to come up with a completely impossible series of events.' The portraits the man had collected over the years stared at him sadly, with varying degrees of disgust. One quietly slipped out of its frame, heading to the portrait of a friend, who could, of course, warn his relatives. As with all pureblood families, the twelve in question and this man were related _somewhere_. It was just a matter of finding the right relative.

The man stalked down the hall to his office, flung open the door, and glanced around at the portraits, trying to find the one that best suited his purpose.

----...and back to 12 Grimmauld Place.----

The days had become routine. Often the only times that James and Sirius would see Mr. or Mrs. Black would be at breakfast and dinner, the only meals they were required to attend. This system had been working well for them so far.

"Mother," Sirius asked one day right before Christmas. "May we go to Diagon Alley today?"

"Whatever for?" Mrs. Black asked, upset about being drawn out of her newest issue of Witch Weekly. If anyone asked, she'd deny reading it. After all, it wasn't a 'classy' magazine. However, it was quite interesting, when you were in the right mood.

"We need to finish our Christmas shopping," Sirius explained hesitatingly. This could go either way. Either he would get yelled at for leaving it until almost the last moment, or he and James would get to go, although with the possible stipulation of having to bring along Regulus.

Mrs. Black looked at the pair in front of her appraisingly for a moment. "I suppose," she replied slowly. When she didn't say any more, Sirius stood up, tugging James with him.

"Thank you! We'll just be going then," he said as the pair left the room.

Within minutes, they were both ready to leave. They would be flooing this time, as Mr. and Mrs. Black weren't going, and therefore didn't feel the need to provide another method of transportation. They tumbled out of the floo into the Leaky Cauldron, attracting more than a few odd looks. After all, even with the information that had been printed in the Daily Prophet, few people would have actually expected the Black heir and the Potter heir to get along so well. James and Sirius ignored this, however, as they hurried out of the pub and down the street. After all, they really did have shopping to finish.

"What do you still have to get?" Sirius asked James as they sat in front of Florean Fortescue's an hour later.

"Hmm," James said thoughtfully, gazing down at his ice cream and briefly wondering what had possessed them to eat ice cream in the dead of winter. Mentally shrugging, he decided it didn't really matter anyway, and dug in once more. "I'm not sure, actually. I've got presents for the people that I _know_ I'm getting presents for, and I'm not sure if I'm going to give anyone else one." Sirius just kind of stared for a moment.

"I would _hope _you know you're getting presents for people if you've already got them…" he teased. James mock glared.

"You know what I mean."

"I know I know what you mean," Sirius replied, standing up. "However, it's more fun to pretend that I don't. Let's go, so you can decide what you're going to do."

The day finished too quickly after that. After a hushed discussion, James and Sirius decided to buy gifts for everyone stuck in the 'experiment.' It wasn't _too_ painful of a decision, as they didn't really hate any of them any more, even if the main reasoning was to appease the Ministry.

Christmas morning soon dawned, bright and clear. In the Wizarding world, it was customary for families to spend Christmas morning alone, as most of the rest of the holiday season was occupied with parties of one kind or another. For James's family, that meant the three of them woke early to exchange gifts. However, the Blacks had never been capable of doing things on a small scale. All the extended family gathered at one house. It had started being _all_ the extended family, back when there were only the 12 pureblood names. However, as more pureblood names started springing up, the gathering got more restricted. In fact, only relations with the last name Black were coming, with the exception of Sirius's cousin, Bellatrix, and her cousin. Mr. Black's sister (who had married a Prewett) wasn't even invited.

James woke groggily that Christmas morning, long before dawn, and rolled onto his side, expecting to see Sirius sleeping next to him. He wasn't. James frowned. Sirius's spot wasn't even warm, so he must have been up for quite a while. James's frown deepened. He didn't remember Sirius coming in last night. His father had requested to talk to him after dinner, as he had every night so far. Had Sirius even gone to bed at all?

James got out of bed, searching for clothes as he did. He had no idea where Sirius would be; he just knew that something had to be wrong.

Dressed in the clothes he had worn the day before, James quietly exited the room. He glanced around, trying to remember which rooms were which. He was pretty sure that the door nearest the one he had just come out of led to Regulus's room, and that the door farthest down the hall, on the left, led to the master bedroom. Setting off as quietly as he could (as a quick glance at his watch had told him no sane person should be awake at this hour, Christmas morning or not) he picked a door at random - and continued picking doors at random, until there were no doors left except those leading to the three bedrooms and the attic. Still not finding Sirius, he quickly descended to the first floor. Pausing, he listened.

Suddenly, he heard a soft noise, one that sounded halfway between a muffled groan and a whimper. Sirius was in pain. He didn't quite know how he knew, exactly, he just did. He turned towards the next sound; it was coming from the library. James cautiously opened the door, not at all sure about what he would find.

Sirius whimpered again as he heard the door open, instinctively curling into the fetal position, despite the fact that this movement opened several wounds on his back. He heard a gasp from the door. 'Well, that rules out my father,' his hazy, pain-filled mind realized. 'And most likely my mother and Regulus. So who?…James.'

James rushed forward, wanting nothing more than to comfort his friend, but knowing that if he so much as touched Sirius, he would probably be in even more pain. He did one of the few things he could do. He luckily knew some healing spells, as Madame Pomfrey had taught both he and Lily a few to help Remus after full moons, as, more often than not, they were the first at his side, although Madame Pomfrey wasn't usually too far behind. One morning in third year, however, one of the professors had broken up a duel around four in the morning that left both participants and one spectator in the hospital wing with various injuries, ranging from a cut finger, to one leg transfigured into an elephant leg. Needless to say, Madame Pomfrey was still busy when the sun finally rose. After that, she had taught both James and Lily some healing charms, should something like that happen again. So far, they had been lucky, and Madame Pomfrey had come fairly quickly, but he and Lily had still practiced religiously.

Concentrating on healing Sirius, James pointed his wand, saying a long incantation for a spell that healed shallow cuts, and helped deeper ones. For a moment, he thought it wouldn't work, that he was too out of practice. Then, however, the blood slowly stopped, and the majority of the cuts closed. There was still blood soaking through Sirius's shirt from somewhere on his side, however. James slowly pulled the material up, trying not to rip away the blood that had already clotted, but knowing it was most likely useless. Concentrating on that specific area, he said the spell once again, sighing in relief when the wound healed.

Sirius slowly stirred, uncurling from the ball he was rolled up in. He sat up just as slowly, refusing to look at James, except to mutter a quick thanks. James could see many emotions warring across Sirius's face, many closely related to self-loathing. James nearly sighed before deciding that probably wouldn't be the most reassuring sound to hear. He instead shifted closer, putting his arms around the boy.

They sat like that for a long while. It was so long, Sirius was almost certain James had fallen asleep. That is, until he asked the question Sirius was dreading to hear. "Does this happen every night when he wants to 'talk'?" James asked. Sirius sighed before nodding.

"Usually it's not this bad, and he puts a Concealment charm on me to hide it all, as I can't do magic outside of school just yet. Unfortunately, sometimes - like tonight - it's so bad that the charm doesn't work."

"You've got to get out of here!" Sirius shook his head, unconsciously shifting closer to James.

"I'm not seventeen yet. He could keep me home until I come of age, and what good would that do? There's only another week and a few days until we go back to Hogwarts, and tonight will be about the last he does, since we've been invited to the Malfoys' New Year's Eve party, and there's only a few days after that until we go back to school. After that, I'll never have to see him again! Or, at least, I won't have to live here anymore. Uncle Alphard and Andromeda have both already promised me a place to live, if I want."

As much as James didn't want to admit it, he knew Sirius had a point. They sat where they were for another few minutes, and probably could have stayed there for the rest of the night if Sirius hadn't started shivering.

"Crap," James muttered, mentally berating himself for not thinking about how cold Sirius must be, especially since his shirt was now a bunch of rags at best. "Come on. You need to get _some_ sleep, anyway."

Sirius, who had been quite comfortable leaning against James except for being a bit cold, had almost nodded off, but quickly regained his senses, nodding his agreement and climbing to his feet with much less pain than he had been expecting, even after the healing charm. James quickly followed, and they set off up the stairs.

After about four more hours of rest, a house elf popped into Sirius's room to wake the pair. "Madame requests your presence at breakfast," the tiny elf announced before popping out, presumably to tell Regulus.

James, blinking sleepily, rose from the bed, glancing over at a still-soundly-sleeping Sirius. He was absolutely dreading the rest of the day.

It didn't start out as bad as he expected. Both boys sleepily made their way downstairs. At breakfast, all three boys received a lecture concerning "acceptable" behavior around certain family members, such as 'Don't talk to Andromeda or Marius any more than you must to be polite, nor to anyone either may bring,' and 'Don't you _dare_ mention Lucius Malfoy around Narcissa, or anyone else in Cygnus's family,' and 'Don't ask about other family members unless _they_ bring them up.'

The first to arrive were Cygnus and Druella, with their youngest, Narcissa. Next came Pollux (Mrs. Black's father) with his sister Cassiopeia. Arcturus and Melania, Mr. Black's parents, were next, followed by Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Is that everyone?" Mrs. Black asked the semi-full drawing room, sounding as if she was half-hoping that it was, but dreading that it wasn't.

"No," Druella sighed. "Andromeda is coming yet. She insisted on bringing her _muggle_ boyfriend, and even decided she'll help Marius get here."

Sirius couldn't help but grin to himself, although it was quite plain that James didn't really understand what was so funny.

"Marius is my mother's great-uncle," he whispered to James. "He was blasted off the tapestry when it was revealed he was a Squib. He's technically disowned, although he's invited to important family gatherings, both to prove to other purebloods that family is everything, and to rub it in his face that he can't do magic, as most gatherings are held somewhere where the wards read your magical signature, or something like that, which makes it nearly impossible to get in without using magic, and completely impossible unless you have someone with you that can. No idea how Andromeda's going to manage to bring _two_ people through."

"Hello!" Andromeda called out cheerfully as she entered the house. Sirius grabbed James's arm, pulling him down the stairs to greet the new arrivals. As he had been ordered earlier to introduce James to all of his relatives, neither parent called him back, although they most certainly didn't approve of the enthusiasm in Sirius's voice as he went to greet a muggle, a Squib, and the witch who brought them.

Author's Note: The information towards the end came from Harry Potter Lexicon. That site is an awesome reference tool...especially if you can't remember where something was found in the books, or even if something was mentioned, like names of Order members or Death Eaters.

Thanks to all who reviewed. Thanks to all who are hopefully going to review.

If there is someone out there who wouldn't mind beta-ing this story, please tell me in a review. Grammer and spelling help aren't necessary, although would be appreciated. I mainly just want someone to read through to make sure I didn't say 'They slept late that Saturday' and then afew paragraphs later that they left for their first class, or something like that. I'd also like someone who could tell me if I didn't explain something enough, as I tend to have a problem with that if I know the background information well.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

Author's Note: Not much to say here, except thank you ssoo much for the reviews for the last chapter, and enjoy!

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 11

"Andy! It's been so long since I've seen you!" Sirius exclaimed quietly, hugging his favorite cousin.

"You too," Andromeda said, returning the hug. "This is my fiancé, Ted Tonks, and our great-uncle, Marius."

"Great to meet you," Sirius grinned. "I've heard quite a bit about you," he continued, turning to Marius.

"We'll probably get along a lot better if you forget every bit of it," the old man grinned. Sirius returned the smile.

"This is James," Sirius replied, introducing James to the group.

"Nice to meet you," James said as the impatience felt by the group upstairs was made known as Mr. Black shouted down at them to hurry up. The group of five quickly ascended the stairs.

Every Black that had come behaved impeccably towards Marius and Ted. However, while their behavior was extremely polite, it was quite cold, and no one would have made the mistake of thinking that either man was completely welcome.

The day seemed to last unusually long for Sirius and James, probably because there were so many people they had to dance around to keep from offending. Neither had ever been more happy to see people leave than they were that night.

-----Bones Estate-----

Amelia was exhausted when she fell into bed Christmas night. She and Walden had gone back and forth between houses, first to her mother's parents, then to his, then to her father's parents, then to _his_ father's parents.

Unfortunately, Christmas was a large affair for all four groups of people, so there had been four _huge_ meals they were expected to partake in. That meant four _long_ dinner conversations about what she wanted to be when she graduated, and wasn't she _thrilled_ to see so and so, and _my_, but she had grown. Granted, those last two had only been asked around her own family. Dinner with Walden's grandparents consisted of questions more along the lines of what her marks were in certain subjects, what she thought of certain issues currently in the limelight, and so on, trying to gauge whether or not she shared their views. Luckily, Walden had warned her of that kind of thing in his letters, and even before they left Hogwarts.

She was still amazed at some of the pairs the Ministry had dreamt up. She and Walden had been lucky, as both came from fairly neutral families, as neither family had joined one of the sides outright, although the Bones had lighter connections and the MacNairs had darker ones. It was remarkable that Molly and Lucius got along as well as they did, for example. She had, to be quite honest, expected that 'relationship' to come to blows, but it hadn't...at least, not yet. And at least everyone could stand each other. While only Alice and Frank were actually dating, and only James and Sirius, and Severus and Beth really had potential to eventually date, they all would survive.

-----Malfoy Manor-----

Lucius sighed. His parents had decided to ignore the custom of a family-only Christmas and had invited their 'Master.' He was glad he had learned to Occlude his mind while at Durmstrang. He didn't like the man, although not so much because of his hatred of mudbloods and muggles, or because of the way he got results; no, he didn't like him because 'Lord Voldemort' was nothing more than a half-blood, and expected proud pure-bloods to bow to him. The sad part was, most of them did.

Actually, Lucius admitted to himself, he was lying. He thought Voldemort was an idiot to try to kill out all the muggles. Sure, Lucius didn't like them, but there were too damn many to try to get rid of them completely. Even the mudbloods didn't bother him as much as they used to. He knew that had he stayed at Durmstrang, his views wouldn't have changed. However, at Hogwarts, where barely anyone cared about the pureness of blood, being outshined by mudbloods in his classes had to make him admit that they weren't completely useless. Some of them were, of course - Peter Pettigrew, for example. Lucius marveled every day at the fact that that boy had been able to pass first year, let alone make it to his sixth. Others, like Lily Evans, only really bothered him because they could outshine him. His parents, however, didn't see it that way.

He sighed again, thinking about the upcoming New Year's Eve party his parents were throwing at the request of the self-styled Dark Lord. They were to sound out the people who weren't already Death Eaters ('What a name,' Lucius thought to himself. 'It sounds like they go around snacking on corpses.') to see if they would be likely to join.

He turned back to the book in front of him. He and Molly had been discussing the upcoming war, and she had mentioned how unlikely it was that all twelve of them would survive. As much as he hated to admit it, he shared her fear. He was fairly sure he had read about a spell that would connect them, combining their magic in times of need. He _knew_ he had, he just had to remember which book it had been in…

-----12 Grimmauld Place-----

James sank into the bed happily, glad the day was over. He didn't think he had ever been glad Christmas was over before, but a day with Sirius's family could do that to people.

Well, not _all_ of his family, he admitted, just most of it. After all, Andromeda was extremely nice, and Marius was hilarious. Alphard, while normally as stuck up as the rest, doted on Sirius, and turned out to be pleasant enough to be around, even if he did look down his nose at Ted and Marius just as much as the rest of them.

He marveled at how natural it had felt, going through the motions of being in love with Sirius. Actually, if he was going to be completely honest with himself, he knew the reason it felt so natural. He had known for a while. He just didn't know if Sirius felt the same way…

Sirius sat in the bathroom, mulling over his thoughts. He had known his feelings for James went deeper than friendship for some time, but he couldn't figure out how the other boy felt. He knew James cared for him, but did his feelings go any deeper? Making up his mind, Sirius walked into the bedroom, determined to tell James how he felt.

"James, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure," James responded, shaking himself out of his thoughts.

"Um…" Now that the moment had actually came to admit his feelings, Sirius had no idea what to say. "Ireallyreallylikeyou-asinmorethanjustfriends," he said in a rush.

James looked at him blankly. "Um, would you mind repeating that?" he asked. He hoped he had heard what he thought he had, but, for obvious reasons, wasn't entirely sure.

"I really, really like you," Sirius said, preparing for rejection with every word he spoke. "As in...more than just friends." His eyes were closed, as he didn't want to see James's expression.

So he had heard right. "I…" he hesitated. Sirius flinched, expecting the worst. "I like you, too." The pair stared at each other for a moment, neither sure what to do. Then, slowly, they both leaned forward, meeting in a kiss.

888

The rest of Christmas break flew by, both boys much happier. They were soon getting ready to go to the New Year's Eve party the Malfoys were throwing.

"How formal is this supposed to be?" James asked, eyeing his remaining robes.

"Not very," Sirius said, digging through his closet. "It's just us twelve and our immediate families."

"Right…," James trailed off, pulling out the most casual set of dress robes he had.

888

Soon, they were preparing to floo to Malfoy Manor. "I'll go first," Mr. Black said pompously. He was soon followed by Mrs. Black, then Regulus, then James, then Sirius. Almost all of the other guests were already there.

As they stepped out of the floo, they saw Lucius pull Molly aside. Whatever he told her made her eyes light up, and soon they'd split up, each pulling different teens aside. It was Lucius who approached James and Sirius first.

"There's a spell I need to talk to you about. It's one I found in one of our oldest books. Don't give me that look," he said, catching the expression on Sirius's face. "It's not a _dark_ book, just an…extremely rare one."

"Right," Sirius said doubtfully, knowing just what kind of books could be found in the Malfoy library, given that most of them could be found in the Black library as well.

"What does it do?" James interrupted. Lucius shot him what could be interpreted as a grateful glance from anyone else.

"It's ancient blood magic." He rushed through, cutting off Sirius's complaints. While many wouldn't believe it, both trusted each other much more than either had thought possible. There families were simply too much alike for either to completely trust something that had to do with the other's family, knowing all to well what it could be. "It binds people together, and lets them share magic, to an extent. It has to be between people who trust each other completely, or it won't work. It won't let them share magic like have more power, but so that they have more magic to combat different things, like most unnatural deaths. It fell out of practice long before the Killing Curse was invented, so I don't really know if it will work against it."

Author's Note: How'd you like it? Tell me in a review! And thanks again to those who reviewed last chapter! Consider this an it's-almost-summer-vacation! present!

This story will end somewhere between the end of James and Sirius's sixth year and the beginning of their seventh. I have a sequel planned, but it won't start until the end of Harry's sixth year. If there are any scenes you would like to see in between the two, let me know!

Thanks once again to Hilary for beta-ing thus far!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: Well, here it is, chapter 12. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Thanks to Hilary for beta-ing! I take full blame for all mistakes. Now however, on to...

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 12

"Do you think this is going to work?" James asked as he and Sirius prepared for the ritual. They had been kicked out of Molly and Lucius's rooms, where the potion was being prepared, as neither of them was exactly skilled in that arena. They had left Lucius, Severus, and Alice in there, and went to find the others. From there, they had been instructed to draw the lines on the floor they would need. Everyone had to stand on a vertex of the shape. Normally, when the ritual was done with only two people, a line was drawn and the gem the blood was placed on was in the center; with more people, more vertices were needed. They had drawn the dodecagon and were now drawing lines from each point to the center.

"I think that, if we do everything right, it will," Sirius answered, drawing a line with his wand. "With old rituals, though, there are so many things that _could_ be forgotten, or that might not work _exactly_ as planned, so sometimes it's hard to predict." James nodded absentmindedly, connecting another point. Sirius could tell he was mulling over all he had ever heard about blood rituals. He sighed. While usually having a family like James' was a blessing, it could also be a real hindrance. He could see the distrust in the other's eyes, not of the people involved but of the ritual itself. Sirius had no doubt that, as an Auror, Mr. Potter had told James about all kinds of horrible blood rituals, whether intentionally or not. After all, those would be the horror stories in which the rituals would go horribly, horribly wrong. Sirius, meanwhile, had heard glowing accounts from his parents about ones that had gone the way they were supposed to, and even after reading the horror stories in the Daily Prophet, knew they were usually worth it if you knew what you were doing.

"Listen," Sirius said, forgetting about the lines for a moment and pulling James into his arms. "There's very little that can actually go wrong. We've got the best potion-makers in Hogwarts brewing the potion. Walden, Beth, Arthur, and Frank are picking out the elements to call upon, filling in what we say, and getting everything else together. Molly, Dory, and Amelia are searching in every book they can find to figure out what would happen if we forget a part. There are very few possible bad consequences. This ritual was designed to protect people in times of war. It dates back to the times of the Founders. In one book they found it even says that the Founders themselves used this ritual. It will all go just as it's supposed to, and someday you can scare the shit out of someone when they tell you to jump off a cliff or something and you decide to take them up on it."

"Somehow I don't think that was the kind of 'accidental' death Molly was thinking about when she was telling Lucius whatever she told him to get him to find this," James said wryly, leaning into the embrace.

"Fine - then you'll be able to scare the shit out of some Death Eater when he hits you with the Killing Curse and you keep going." James couldn't help but laugh and feel at least a bit better. Sirius, seeing this, grinned as well before they each went back to work.

∞§∞

It was the morning of the day of the ritual when Molly, Fabian, and Gideon got the news. The students had all glanced up fearfully at breakfast, anticipating the black envelopes that contained Ministry condolences on the loss of family members at the hands of Voldemort. Everyone agreed it was a horrible way to find out, although they also agreed that it was much better than not knowing until you found your loved one's name in the list of the recently killed in the Daily Prophet.

The students quickly spotted several Ministry owls bearing ominous black envelopes. Three detached themselves and went over to the Gryffindor table; two went to Hufflepuff, and one went to Slytherin. The three Gryffindor owls landed in front of the Prewett children: their parents had been killed by Death Eaters. Molly immediately collapsed against Lucius, sobbing unrestrainedly. Lucius looked shocked for a moment, then angry, before pulling her closer. They stayed like that for a while before he helped her up to their rooms.

Molly stayed stubbornly secluded in her room until supper. No one could get her to come out, and she would only let Fabian and Gideon in.

Lucius was depressed as well. When asked why, all he could say was that it could have been his parents. Walden and Severus nodded, while the others looked confused.

"Of course it could have been your parents!" Arthur exclaimed. "Any of our parents could be next!"

"But how many of your parents could have _done_ the killing?" This brought the others up short. While it was true that all of their families had at least _some_ dark connections, the majority of their families (like the Potters, the Longbottoms, and the Boneses) were actively siding with Dumbledore. Many of the others, while technically neutral, were strong supporters of the Light, like the Diggorys and Weasleys. Even the others from Durmstrang weren't in quite the same position Lucius was. They went from Dory's parents, who were neutral, although leaning Dark, to Sirius's parents, who were unmarked supporters, but they weren't actual Death Eaters.

The eleven teens were left in silence after this remark. About an hour later, Molly emerged from her room, followed by her brothers.

"Are we going to do the ritual or not?" she asked as her brothers left the room.

"Are you sure you want to do it now?" Beth asked.

Molly nodded, looking ill. "Now more than ever."

∞§∞

Roughly thirty minutes later, high in the Headmaster's office…

Dumbledore watched various students finishing up a late supper in the Great Hall from a mirror he had installed that would let him see any room in the castle, as well as the people occupying it, at will. He had tried using the portraits of the former Heads of Hogwarts to spy on students, but most felt this was morally wrong, and those who didn't had other problems with it, such as the fact that they would be spying on family. That had been a problem he'd run up against around Christmas, when he'd asked various portraits to visit their frames at their family's manor, and spy on the six newly formed couples for him. While he hadn't expected any of them to be happy about the idea, he _had_ expected them to come around to the idea eventually. Surprisingly, his most staunch opponent had been Phineas Nigellus, who most certainly didn't like the family member he was being asked to spy upon, unlike some of the others. "After all," the portrait had stated after telling Dumbledore off. "He's family. And, unfortunately for you, blood's thicker than water."

He switched charms on the mirror, setting it to find individual people instead of showing specific rooms. He first checked on the known troublemakers. When he got to James Potter, he was surprised to see that he and the other teens stuck in the middle of the Ministry's plotting were in an unused classroom. There was a deep red garnet in the middle of a shape, that all of the points seemed to be connected with. There were candles of many different colors, all with a different emblem representing a different metal, as well as a different stone. One candle that was plainly visible was white with a turquoise stone, and, if he wasn't mistaken, the symbol for lead. Severus stood off to one side with a cauldron in front of him. Amelia Bones stood beside him and, at his signal, put a few drops of blood into the cauldron. Severus stirred a few more times, then nodded his head, filling a beaker with the potion.

"Are we all ready?" Lucius asked. The others nodded. Slowly, they stood, picked up a candle, and stood on a point in the dodecagon. Molly lit her wand, used it to light her candle, then passed it around the circle. She then took the beaker of potion from Severus as he passed to his place. Slowly, she began the ritual.

"_We call upon our trust_

_To bind us all together._

_And, in doing what we must,_

_To save us from another._"

Having said her part in the spell, she slowly walked towards the center. Once she was standing in front of the stone on the floor, she poured a bit of the potion on the stone, then on the line leading back to where she had been standing. Once back on her point, she dipped her blue candle in the potion, putting it out, before handing it to Arthur, the person on her right, pouring a little bit out along the way.

"_We call upon our determination_

_To hold us all together_

_To guide us through these times_

_And to strengthen chosen binds_,"

he intoned before following the steps Molly had just taken, extinguishing his orange candle before passing the potion on to Dory.

"_We call upon our friendship_

_To tie us all together_

_To bond us all much deeper_

_So all will be benefit reapers._"

She did her part before passing the potion off to Alice, her pink candle once again unlit.

"_We ask thee for the harmony_

_To protect us in these times_

_So our feelings here remain unchanged_

_And, to this, we're of one mind._"

The potion continued around the circle, going from Frank with peace, to Beth with loyalty, to Severus with healing, to Walden with willpower, to Amelia with safety, to Sirius with courage, to James with hope, and, finally, to Lucius with magic.

"_We call upon our magic_

_In our bodies and our souls_

_To mold us all together,_

_And to keep us one and whole._"

Lucius repeated the walk to the center of the polygon and back, but he then poured the potion on the line connecting he and Molly, causing all the lines to glow. He extinguished his candle in the remaining potion. The second the flame went out, the lines started flashing, going from blue to orange to pink to green to aqua to blue to light blue to dark red to white, back to dark red, then to green and purple. Suddenly, all the candles in the room went out. The room was almost pitch black, as there wasn't even moonlight shining through the window.

Dumbledore strained his eyes to see until one of the students, soon identified as Amelia, relit the candles on the wall. The room was silent as the students cleaned up the potion and the lines on the floor. Molly sighed as they finished.

"We did it," she said quietly. "I can't believe we actually did it."

"Do you regret it?" Lucius asked.

"Of course not," she smiled. "Thank you." To Dumbledore's shock, she threw herself into Lucius's arms. It appeared to shock Lucius for a moment, too, before he began hugging her as well.

Dumbledore let the screen go blank, contemplating what he had just seen. They cared more for each other than he would have ever thought possible. Honestly, when he suggested this to the Minister, he hadn't expected it to work out this way. He had expected them to absolutely abhor each other, not to _care_ about each other. They had apparently done some sort of ritual. It shouldn't be too hard to find which one, as most were centered on one person, not a group. The elements they had chosen to represent said a lot, too. After all, you wouldn't perform a ritual with the elements peace, harmony, and hope if the ritual was supposed to make your Dark magic more powerful. This shrunk the field even more. He leaned back in his chair, staring unseeingly at the door to his office. He needed to figure out this new development, and fast.

* * *

Author's Note: How was it? Please review and tell me what you thought of the ritual. 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Not mine!!!

Author's Note: ...Oops? I wanted to wait until school was out, as we got entirely too many huge projects sprang on us all year, usually at about the time I would consider updating, like right before Christmas, when we have all that extra time after finals, or the same at the very end. But, that didn't work. Here's the next chapter anyway?

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 13

"What do you think this is about?" Molly asked nervously. She and the others were making their way to Dumbledore's office.

"Probably Ministry business," Lucius said, flinching slightly as Molly's grip on his arm got tighter. He shook his head. Before this school year, he never would have expected _any_ of them to be this close, much less he and Molly.

---Flashback---

The door slammed shut behind the teens the moment they had both stepped into the room. Molly spun around to glare at Lucius, as if he had slammed it on purpose.

"Look," she said after a brief staring contest. "We're stuck together. We should at least try to be civil."

"Fat chance of that," Lucius said. He would have snorted if Malfoys ever did something so undignified.

"Well I suggest we try," Molly snapped. "After all, we're both in our last year. The absolute _last_ thing we need after this…fiasco is to be pulled out of school and put into isolation because we can't get along!"

"I'm not at all adverse to _trying_," Lucius hissed, trying his best not to raise his voice. After all, if the girl in the portrait hanging over the door couldn't _hear_ the argument, she couldn't very well report on it, now could she? "Call me a pessimist, but I somehow doubt we succeed."

"Fine. Lets get to know each other, then," Molly said, sitting in one of the armchairs, giving Lucius a look that clearly said if he didn't get his butt in the other, he would seriously regret it. Sighing, he sat.

"Now, tell me about yourself," Molly pressed when he didn't say anything.

"Are you trying to psychoanalyze me?" he asked in amusement, although it wasn't immediately perceptible.

"No. However, if I know what topics are sure to set off a fight, I can avoid them," she snapped.

"Fine," he snapped in return. "I suggest you avoid the war, then."

"And if you insult my family and friends, I just might have to hurt you," she replied.

---End Flashback---

That night, they had discussed quite a few issues. None had been all that dangerous, but it had opened them up to each other, so that they were more willing to share other thoughts. Now, they were friends, very good friends if not best friends.

"I wonder what it's about," Amelia said, thinking out loud more than talking to any of the rest of them.

"Probably some shit about how we haven't connected enough, or something," Severus prophesized darkly, his arm around Beth. It was really quite amazing they'd grown as close as they had…

---Flashback---

They had just entered their rooms. Severus, being his usually bad-tempered self, went immediately to his room, just like he had done for the past three weeks, ever since they had moved in. Beth usually just ignored him, but now it seemed to be too much.

"Just _what_, exactly, is your problem?" she snapped, storming into his room. Severus couldn't help but stare. After all, Beth was as mild-tempered as he was bad-tempered. He hadn't seen her lose her cool once in the time he'd been here, and he had sure given her plenty of reasons.

Severus, despite being startled, gave no other indication that he had heard a word she had said.

"Just because _you_ don't like the situation doesn't mean anyone else is any happier with it! Do you think we all _like_ being stuck together? What the _fuck_ makes you think you're a special case?" Now Severus was _really_ startled. Beth didn't seem like someone who would swear at any time, no matter how angry she was. He still didn't answer, however. "Fine," she said, losing her patience. "I'll be in the common room doing homework if you decide you're ready to stop sulking like a two-year-old!" With that, she stormed out.

Severus decided that maybe he had been wrong about two hours after she had left. It took him another three, when it was past midnight and she still hadn't gone to bed, to decide that maybe he should say something. He stood slowly, still unsure of why, exactly, he was doing this, and made his way slowly towards the connecting door.

"Why aren't you in bed yet?" he asked, spying her sitting in an armchair by the fire. She jumped slightly, having not heard him open the door.

"The huge potions test tomorrow," she sighed. "I have no idea how I ever made it into N.E.W.T. potions, and it's times like this I regret I did."

"I take it you don't like potions much?" Severus asked mildly, taking the other armchair.

"Nope, don't get it at all. Luckily I can memorize recipes and stuff like that. I can never tell you if certain ingredients will react well together, or what will make the potion blow up, or anything like that. Without knowing the name and background of the potion, I have no idea if it will be poisonous or not, or what it's supposed to do."

"It's not too extremely hard," Severus shrugged.

Beth glared. "Easy for you to say. You've been here three weeks and are already beating Lily Evans for top in the class."

"Potions come naturally to me," Severus shrugged. "Unlike most other subjects. I doubt I'd be much help trying to teach it to you, but I'd be happy to help you review, if you'd like?" There. That was as close to an apology as he'd ever gotten in his life. Beth seemed to see it for what it was, and for what it was intended to be, and smiled gratefully. He realized with a start that he absolutely adored her smile.

"That'd be great!" She exclaimed. "But only if you're sure. It'll be keeping you up, too, after all."

"I wouldn't have offered to help if I wasn't sure," Severus shrugged. "Let me see your book."

---End Flashback---

They had gradually grown closer after that night, until Severus formally asked Beth out. She had just smiled at him as if it were the cutest thing he could have done. So, on the next Hogsmeade weekend, they had walked hand in hand through Honeydukes and the rest of the shops, ending in the Three Broomsticks. By the end of the day, there hadn't been anyone in Hogwarts who didn't know that Severus Snape and Elizabeth Diggory were officially going out.

"Ah! Here you are!" Dumbledore exclaimed, catching sight of them. He had clearly been waiting for them, and he knew they would believe nothing to the contrary. "The Minister is here to discuss the situation with you. If you'll just step into my office." He held the door open with a flourish, waiting for all twelve teens to step inside before entering the office himself.

"Hello," the Minister said, smiling at them from behind Dumbledore's desk. "I'm terribly sorry to drag you from your studies to hear what I have to say, but I believe you'll want to hear this."

"Of course we will," Walden said smoothly. While Lucius might be good at throwing his weight around and bribing people, Walden had a talent for telling people what they wanted for long enough that they thought it was their idea in the first place.

"We at the Ministry have done some thinking," the Minister said, beginning his speech, and ignoring James's muffled 'Did it hurt?' "All of the families seem to have grown suitably closer during the past several months. We think that it's time to end this little…project." For a moment, there was silence in the office.

Dumbledore almost couldn't keep the grin off his face. The students all looked sufficiently shocked. Could you blame them? After all, they'd grown quite close, even Severus and Sirius had grown closer, and they had been absolute enemies before. Now, however, the Minister was telling them it had all been a waste of time, a puppet show put on for the Ministry's amusement. No wonder the students were slightly…irked. Dumbledore was simply glad that the Minister had known enough to keep his name out of it. So he had miscalculated this time. Oh well, better luck next time.

Sirius was staring at the Headmaster in horror, much like the rest of the teens were staring at the Minister. He was behind all of this? How could someone so trusted by the entire Wizarding world be so…evil? Well, maybe evil wasn't the right word. And it wasn't the _entire_ Wizarding world that loved him. After all, his parents were a prime example. Who knew they'd ever agree on anything?

"Now, all of your parents have decided that you may stay at Hogwarts for the remainder of your school career," the Minister was saying. "You will be Sorted, and be spending the rest of the time in your dormitories." He waved his hand in what was clearly a dismissal. All of the teens stood, making their way towards what used to be their rooms in silence.

As they reached Alice and Frank's room, Sirius decided to speak up. "Can we talk for a bit?" he asked. The other s nodded slowly, each entering the rooms.

"Dumbledore planned the entire thing," Sirius said without preamble. "It was written on his face the entire time we were in his office. I don't know how or why, but he planted the idea in the Minister's head, and must have decided it wasn't doing what he wanted it to do."

"It can't be," Beth gasped. "It's _Albus Dumbledore_." She didn't, however, look nearly as convinced as she would have liked to.

"It makes sense," James said after a short silence. "After all, Dad said that most of the department heads were dead set against the idea. It _had_ to have been someone pretty powerful to persuade the Minister it was worth it, despite the opposition." The others nodded, slowly.

"We're in this together, right?" Alice asked in a small voice. "No matter what. We have to show the world what he's really like, even if it takes our whole lives."

"Yeah," Dory agreed. "He didn't ruin our lives, but the next group of people might not be so lucky. After all, I hardly doubt that the goal was actual cooperation. He probably hoped half of us would kill the other half, and then the first half would wind up in Azkaban. Poof, there went the political standing of most of the people with enough political clout to oppose him."

"We can't give up until he's gone," Arthur confirmed, his face set.

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Over the next month, the twelve teens got many things accomplished. They finished the ritual, naming Dory's family manor as the place they would be sent when they 'died.' Apparently her grandmother hadn't thought very much of her father, so she had left all of her property to Dory instead. All of the former Durmstrang students were sorted, and all twelve moved into dorm rooms. The seventh years sat their N.E.W.T. exams, and the sixth years took their end of year exams.

All was going smoothly. The students were awaiting their exam results and the Leaving Feast. Then, however, something happened.

Sirius rarely received mail from his parents, as both parties preferred to imagine the other didn't exist unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, both he and James were surprised when they spotted the Blacks' owl swoop into the Great Hall.

As Sirius read it, he grew gradually paler. "Someone told them we haven't broken up," he whispered to James. "They say I have to break up with you, or they'll send me back to Durmstrang." James's eyes grew wide.

"Come on," he said, standing and hurrying out of the Great Hall. Sirius hurried after him the entire way to Gryffindor tower.

"What are we going to do?" Sirius asked, sitting down on his bed. James sat beside him, wrapping his arms around him.

---Flashback---

Sirius really didn't want to open his eyes. Not after the way he had embarrassed himself the night before. And if James didn't mention it, it would be worse. He knew, though, that he'd have to face it eventually. Preferably later rather than sooner.

He had another nightmare the night before. This time, however, James didn't come wake him up. Sirius had shot up in bed, and suddenly didn't want to be alone. Even when he had been in Durmstrang, Snape had been in the room with him. Even though that hadn't been much of a comfort most times, it was enough after nightmares. Sleepy, and knowing he wouldn't get any more sleep as long as he was alone, he did the only thing he could think of. He went to James's room.

James's eyes snapped open when his bedroom door opened. He turned over enough to spot Sirius come in, standing nervously in the doorway, before seemingly making up his mind and making his way over to the armchair. He didn't seem to realize James was awake.

"You know, that isn't going to be extremely comfortable," James said, propping himself up on his elbow. "I would know."

"I told you I'd take it last night, but you were determined you should have it," Sirius shrugged, throwing his legs over the arm.

James rolled his eyes. "You might as well come over here," James said, scooting over on the bed. Sirius, being at least twelve centimeters taller, was already having trouble getting comfortable in the armchair. His mind already half asleep, he got up and joined James in the bed.

As all of this ran through Sirius's mind, James burrowed closer, moving nearer to Sirius's body heat. He could feel James squirming around as he neared consciousness. All of a sudden, he flopped onto his back.

"We both know we're both awake," James said after a minute of silence. "Why are we both pretending?"

Sirius stayed silent, staring at the ceiling, willing himself to think of a response that _didn't_ make him sound like he was completely embarrassed to find himself here. So, in other words, he was trying to think of a convincing lie. "We need to get ready," he finally said, forcing himself out of the warm bed.

James snorted. "Fine, avoid the question," he smirked, climbing out of bed as well.

Sirius hurriedly got dressed. He was gathering his books together when James walked out of his room. "What _is_ the big hurry?" James asked, slightly amused at the sight of Sirius trying to shove one more book into his already over-full bag. "Are you going to be so busy you can't even come back to the room? _Tomorrow_?" he asked, eyeing the Ancient Runes book, which he knew perfectly well Sirius wouldn't need until the nest day. Sirius shot him a half-hearted glare, and began pulling books out of his bag.

"Fine, all-knowing one," Sirius shot at him. "Which books does your all-seeing eye say I need?"

"Well," James said, adopting the dreamy look their Divination teacher usually wore, although the comparison was completely lost on Sirius. "My very educated guess is that you'll need your Arithmancy, Defense, and Transfiguration books. Tomorrow you'll need your Charms, Potions, Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures books."

As Sirius was pulling out his books, James turned to gather his own. Suddenly, there was a crash. James whirled around to find Sirius gazing at his Charms book, which he'd obviously dropped. James opened his mouth to say something, hopefully something witty and amusing, but, with this tension, he'd take something stupid and possibly humiliating as well. However, the look on Sirius's face, combined with the fact that he hadn't moved, stopped him.

'It's all over,' was running through Sirius's head. 'Sure, James seems nice enough now, but can I really trust him to not say anything about last night? To _anyone_? Alice and Dory don't even know, and they're the only ones I really trust. Is it all over?' Suddenly, his legs unfroze, seemingly completely independent from his head, which was telling him to pick up the book and get on with the day before he gave James even more ammunition. Instead, he simply walked to his room and shut the door, unconsciously casting locking and silencing charms as he went.

James stared at the door for a moment, before shaking his head, trying to clear it. He had no idea what to do. Maybe Alice or Dory would. He left the room, only to return moments later with both girls trailing after him.

---End Flashback---

: This story's almost done, just one more chapter to tie it all together. There is a sequel planned and started, with a separate stories that will contain one shots from the time in between stories. I had about three of these done when our computer crashed. I'm hoping I still have them saved somewhere, but it was probably on a floppy disk, and our stupid computer is too new for one of those. Ah well, if there's a scene you'd like to see, let me know! 

Thanks for the reviews, sorry it took so long. I'll try to have the next chapter up sooner, hopefully with a few one shots to go along with it!!!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I own nothing, it's all J.K. Rowling's.

Author's Note: Well, here it is, the final installment. I'd like to thank all of the reviewers, especially those of you who were kind enough to review more than once, to help out with writer's block, and to ask questions that got me thinking about this story. So, without further ado, I present to you…

Out of Our Hands

Chapter 14

James and Sirius sat deep in thought, now down in the common room, pretending to try to do homework. Remus, not noticing their vacant expressions, threw himself into the chair next to them, and sighed. When they didn't look up, he sighed louder. This time, they glanced up.

"I got a letter this morning," he sighed, meaning it this time instead of simply looking for attention. "The Ministry has placed another restriction on werewolves. They've decided we infect 'full-bloods' when we are close to them, such as dating. Or specifically dating, whichever, and have formally requested Lily and I break up."

"I got a similar letter," Sirius groaned. "Only from my parents." The group fell into silence again. "I know!" Sirius exclaimed. "We'll simply leave! Run away, never to be heard from again!"

"That's great, Sirius!" James said with mock enthusiasm. "Except none of us have graduated yet! _You_ aren't even seventeen yet!"

"Right. I'll admit, that's a bit of a drawback," Sirius shrugged. "So I'd have to go home for a while. Or something."

"How about that be a last resort?" Remus said. "Right after 'comply with demands,' maybe? I realize _you _don't particularly like your family, but the rest of us would like to see ours once in a while."

"To be fair," Sirius pointed out. "James' parents are cool with us, and Lily's wouldn't know anything about your little problem." Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius had taken the news of his being a werewolf surprisingly well, and he and James were even working on a way to help him, so they claimed. They also claimed to be close to a breakthrough, which Remus was quite positive he didn't believe. As much as Sirius didn't care about his 'problem,' he definitely didn't understand all of the things that went with it.

"Sirius, even if the Ministry didn't find out, and get us in trouble for not complying with _proof _we've broken up, her parents are _muggles_. What, exactly, would I do on the next full moon?" Sirius shrugged.

"That's it!" James exclaimed. "We just need proof we've broken up. Something the Ministry _and _the Blacks will believe. Then they won't care how much we all see each other, because they'll think absolutely nothing will come of it!" The other two gave him blank looks. "Well, what would make them convinced that we'd all moved on? Or, at least, two of us? Marriage! Two of us will simply have to get married! Or, rather, Lily and I will have to. After all, Remus would have the same problem with either of us, and somehow I doubt your parents would approve of a Muggleborn, Sirius."

"And you think this will work?" Sirius asked doubtfully.

"Only one way to find out," James said, standing and making his way over to Lily, who had only just entered the common room. He led her over to two empty armchairs in a private corner of the common room. They put their heads together for a while, whispering back and forth. About ten minutes later, James stood and flashed a huge grin to the common room at large, which was quite full at the moment, as it was just after breakfast on a Saturday, a prime laze-around-and-do-nothing hour.

"Finally!" he exclaimed, moving to the middle of the room, pulling Lily along with him. "We'll go to the Leaky Cauldron the first weekend away from here!" Lily nodded, playing along.

"About time, mate," Sirius said instantly falling into the roll of happy friend. "If I had to hear you go on and on about how much you liked Lily _one more time_ I think I'd go mad!"

"You think he's bad," Remus countered, putting on a brave face. "You should hear _her_. 'Oh, I've liked him for _so long_, but I just don't know what to do.'" This, of course, amused the other Gryffindors, never mind that they'd thought Lily and Remus had been going out. Apparently, they had simply started becoming even closer friends after James was moved out of the Tower. And the Blacks had been completely unfounded in their accusations, obviously.

James smiled, surveying the room. After all, what would they know about the relationships? Remus and Lily were only really close to James, and to a lesser extent Sirius, so they could conceivably be the only ones who would be officially told they were dating. Their behavior, if you were not aware of the situation, didn't appear to be anything to terribly out of the ordinary, or at least not out of the ordinary given the fact that the third part of their group had moved out. James and Sirius could, in theory, pass everything off as only following orders to all but they people they were closest to, who they knew would swear they knew no such thing.

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James and Lily had firmly established themselves as an 'official' Hogwarts couple by the time they were leaving for Kings Cross. Once at the station, they continued the charade.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter stood nearby, waiting, they thought, to be introduced to Sirius Black. They, however, were in for a bit of a shock.

"Mum, Dad," James said, coming closer. "I'd like to introduce you to Lily Evans." He saw his dad getting ready to interrupt, so he rushed to continue. "My girlfriend." Both were shocked. They spied Sirius saying hello to his parents only a little ways a way. James leaned closer, as if to kiss his mother on the cheek, and instead whispered, "I'll explain later."

She smiled. "It's so nice to see you again, Lily dear. Hopefully we'll be seeing you much more often now."

Soon, James was dragged away to be introduced to Lily's parents as well.

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True to their word, the following weekend found both teens seated at a cozy little table for two in the Leaky Cauldron. They later made a big show of going to the jewelers to pick out a promise ring. Typically, each exchanged family promise rings that had been handed down for generations, but they were using the excuse that, as Lily didn't have an ancient family ring to give, that they would be getting new rings. The real reason, however, was that they didn't want to have to deal with the charms that went with the rings. While you could eventually overcome the charms that bound the two partners together, to use those rings would make their plan completely impossible. It would, undoubtedly raise a few eyebrows, but it couldn't be helped.

Lily eyed the ring as they walked down the street. They all knew trouble was brewing, but hopefully they would be strong enough to make it through.

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Author's Note: Well, folks, that's the end of Out of Our Hands. The sequel, Still Not In Control, is being written as I type this note. It actually turned into a bit of a blessing I lost what I had to it when our computer (the computer I have to use thanks to the crappy modem on our other one, ironically enough) crashed and the floppy disks decided they needed formatted. I am trying to find a copy of two of the 'extra' moments that went along with this. Ever the eternal optimist, so long as you don't ask anyone who actually knows me, I'm still hoping for the hard copy.

**If you have any ideas for the 'extras' stories, please, let me know. They could be anything, something you feel needs further explaining (from either story), or a scene you'd just like to see. **

The first chapter of Missing Scenes: OoOH and SNiC is being posted!!!


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